WPS Plans Conference on Trauma Healing

Within a couple of weeks of the terrorist attacks, the Washington (D.C.) Psychiatric Society (WPS) became involved in efforts to solve one of the biggest problems facing the region: coordination of services that affect the mental health of area residents.

Nearly 40 organizations have been meeting each month to come up with solutions for ongoing needs and to develop a plan in the event of a future disaster.

Organizations such as the IONA Senior Center and the Korean-American Counseling Center participate with the American Red Cross and the Pentagon Civilian Health Service.

The coalition came up with recommendations after a member survey. Among the ideas: develop a single body with overall authority for managing the mental health needs of the region; develop a data bank of mental health professionals qualified to work with trauma victims; establish a single hotline and Web site where the public can get information after a disaster; develop methods of checking professional credentials on site to keep untrained personnel from access to survivors; and establish a reciprocal license for psychiatrists and mental health professionals in the three jurisdictions.

Walter Hill, WPS’s executive director, was one of the principal authors of the report.

WPS will host a conference on September 14 titled “Resilience in the Face of Terror: Healing the Trauma of 9/11.” Conference cochairs are Eliot Sorel, M.D., and Catherine May, M.D., and cosponsors are APA and the Medical Society of the District of Columbia.

Conferees will discuss collaboration between public and private health care systems, the response of the medical community in Washington, D.C., psychological aspects of religious intolerance, and lessons learned from experiences at ground zero.

Among the speakers will be Steven Steury, M.D., medical director for the District of Columbia Department of Mental Health; Robert Ursano, M.D., chair of the psychiatry department at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences; and Theodore Nam, M.D., president of APA’s Uniformed Services District Branch.