This edited volume looks at the phenomenon of shared trauma and how it affects social workers and their clients alike. Bringing together established voices from the field of social work, Shared Mass Trauma in Social Work presents ideas of how to provide resilient care and practice while social workers and their clients are both experiencing the same mass trauma. Social workers are often on the front line when community trauma occurs, and the boundary between their experiences and those of clients can become blurred. In this timely resource, Ann Goelitz and the contributors aim to share both their findings and evidence-based tools to help professionals look after themselves and their clients in times of turmoil. Beginning by setting a conceptual framework for shared trauma and reviewing related research, the contributors discuss the concept as it relates to events such as the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and natural disasters, police brutality and racism, and war and terrorism. Filled with case studies that bring the text to life, chapters then move to the modalities of psychotherapy, group work, and community organizing, before concluding with reflections and lessons learnt for future practice. The glossary of terms, sample syllabus, and practical exercises to support training social workers are a bonus for educators. Shared Mass Trauma in Social Work incorporates specific implications, trauma-informed care, social work principles, and practical tips to support training and established clinicians working in unprecedented circumstances.

This contributed volume reflects on the collective wisdom and ongoing efforts of the social work profession that has been in the forefront of the global pandemic of COVID-19. The contributors are seasoned social work academics, practitioners, administrators, and researchers. Working on the frontlines with patients and families, these social workers have garnered experiences and insights, and also have developed innovative ways to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus on the psychosocial well-being of their clients and themselves. The 36 reflections, experiences, and insights in this curated collection address the behavioral, mental health, socioeconomic, and other repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic that have impacted their client base, most of whom are vulnerable populations: Repurposed, Reassigned, Redeployed Safety Planning with Survivors of Domestic Violence: How COVID-19 Shifts the Focus COVID-19 and Moral Distress/Moral Anguish Therapeutic Support for Healthcare Workers in Acute Care: Our Voice Shared Trauma and Harm Reduction in the Time of COVID-19 Wholeheartedness in the Treatment of Shared Trauma: Special Considerations During the COVID-19 Pandemic The Role of Ecosocial Work During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Natural World Black Lives, Mass Incarceration, and the Perpetuity of Trauma in the Era of COVID-19: The Road to Abolition Social Work Teaching Social Work Practice in the Shared Trauma of a Global Pandemic The COVID-19 Self-Care Survival Guide: A Framework for Clinicians to Categorize and Utilize Self-Care Strategies and Practices Shared Trauma, Shared Resilience During a Pandemic: Social Work in the Time of COVID-19 is an early and essential work on the impact of the pandemic on the social work field with useful practice wisdom for a broad audience. It can be assigned in masters-level social work practice and elective courses on trauma, as well as inform both neophyte and experienced practitioners. It also would appeal to the general public interested in the work of social workers during a pandemic.

Trauma is defined as a sudden, potentially deadly experience, often leaving lasting, troubling memories. Traumatology (the study of trauma, its effects, and methods to modify effects) is exploding in terms of published works and expanding in terms of scope. Originally a narrow specialty within emergency medicine, the field now extends to trauma psychology, military psychiatry and behavioral health, post-traumatic stress and stress disorders, trauma social work, disaster mental health, and, most recently, the subfield of history and trauma, with sociohistorical examination of long-term effects and meanings of major traumas experienced by whole communities and nations, both natural (Pompeii, Hurricane Katrina) and man-made (the Holocaust, 9/11). One reason for this expansion involves important scientific breakthroughs in detecting the neurobiology of trauma that is connecting biology with human behavior, which in turn, is applicable to all fields involving human thought and response, including but not limited to psychiatry, medicine and the health sciences, the social and behavioral sciences, the humanities, and law. Researchers within these fields and more can contribute to a universal understanding of immediate and long-term consequences–both good and bad–of trauma, both for individuals and for broader communities and institutions. Trauma encyclopedias published to date all center around psychological trauma and its emotional effects on the individual as a disabling or mental disorder requiring mental health services. This element is vital and has benefited from scientific and professional breakthroughs in theory, research, and applications. Our encyclopedia certainly will cover this central element, but our expanded conceptualization will include the other disciplines and will move beyond the individual.

For those who think that 2012 is the year for Armageddon, then you might take courage from this book on mass trauma and its companion book on individual trauma. The stories about disasters and traumas in the book span the globe, with a focus on the people from Australia, African, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Japan, Sri Lanka, and the USA. This book comes at a time when mass disasters and mass trauma abound. It is impossible to turn on the television and not see incidents of floods, earthquakes, wildfires, avalanches, and every kind of natural disaster, competing with air space with the latest updates on wars, terrorism, mass murders, civil unrest, famine and mass migration.

Exposure to potentially traumatic events puts individuals at risk for developing a variety of psychological disorders; the complexities involved in treating them are numerous and have serious repercussions. How should diagnostic criteria be defined? How can we help a client who does not present with traditional PTSD symptoms? The mechanisms of human behavior need to be understood and treatment needs to be tested before we can move beyond traditional diagnostic criteria in designing and implementing treatment. No better guide than Retraumatization exists to fulfill these goals. The editors and contributors, all highly regarded experts, accomplish six objectives, to: define retraumatization outline the controversies related to it provide an overview of theoretical models present data related to the frequency of occurrence of different forms of trauma detail the most reliable strategies for assessment to provide an overview of treatments. Contained within is the most current information on prevention and treatment approaches for specific populations. All chapters are uniformly structured and address epidemiological data, clinical descriptions, assessment, diagnosis and prognosis, and prevention. It is an indispensible resource that expands readers’ knowledge and skills, and will encourage dialogue in a field that has many unanswered questions.

Collective Trauma, Collective Healing is a guide for mental health professionals working in response to large-scale political violence or natural disaster. It provides a framework that practitioners can use to develop their own community-based, collective approach to treating trauma and providing clinical services that are both culturally and contextually appropriate. The classic edition includes a new preface from the author reflecting on changes to the field and the world since the book’s initial publication. The book draws on experience working with survivors, their families, and communities in the Holocaust, post-war Kosovo, the Liberian civil wars, and post-9/11 Lower Manhattan. It tracks the development of community programs and projects based on a family and community resilience approach, including those that enhance the collective capacities for narration and public conversation. Clinicians and community practitioners will come away from Collective Trauma, Collective Healing with a solid understanding of new roles they may play in disasters—roles that encourage them to recognize and enhance the resilience and coping skills in families, organizations, and the community at large.

This book examines how the shift to remote teaching in March 2020 due to the global pandemic created new opportunities for innovation and creativity and shaped how social work classes were taught, with many temporary changes now part of permanent, standard practice. Drawing on narratives from 20 social work leaders across 17 different countries, the chapters explore particular themes and viewpoints on lessons learned during the pandemic, including case studies to examine copying mechanisms, insights into the transition to remote teaching, and the creative lessons that were learned. By taking an international perspective, it represents a key contribution to the scholarship of social work leaders from around the world concerning how institutions transitioned to remote learning and teaching and how these lived experiences and new discoveries are contributing to and influencing current practice. As such, it will appeal to social work educators, researchers, and field educators around the world with interests in experimental curriculum and field practice.