Page 1 of 10

Staff Training

Training

A disaster behavioral health program needs to include staff training in the management plan. 

There are a number of applicable topics that may assist staff members in conducting their jobs 

more comprehensively and more competently. The addition of training events should be 

determined by the specific disaster, the knowledge and skills of the staff, and the different 

populations most affected and at risk for suffering negative mental health outcomes as a result 

of the circumstances of the affected community as well as the disaster itself. Inviting community 

providers to training events is a productive way to reach out to other agencies in the community 

involved in the disaster response or supporting the response in some way.

Psychological First Aid (PFA) 

(From the second edition of the Psychological First Aid Field Operations Guide.) 

“PFA intervention strategies are intended for use with children, adolescents, parents/caretakers, 

families, and adults exposed to disaster or terrorism. PFA can also be provided to first 

responders and other disaster relief workers.”

• PFA core actions include the following: 

o Contact and engagement

o Safety and control

o Stabilization

o Gathering of information, including current needs and concerns

o Practical assistance

o Connection with social supports

o Information on coping

o Linkage with collaborative services

“PFA is designed for delivery by mental health and other disaster response workers who provide 

early assistance to affected children, families, and adults as part of an organized disaster 

response effort.”
Page 2 of 10

The following PFA training and educational resources are available. All resources are free, can 

be provided for both paraprofessionals and professionals, and include both in-person and online 

training.

• PFA Online—National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN)

This NCTSN 6-hour interactive course provides training on all PFA core actions as well 

as video demonstrations and tips from trauma experts and survivors. The course is 

designed for novices and for those experienced in disaster response. 

https://learn.nctsn.org/course/index.php?categoryid=11

• Psychological First Aid Field Operations Guide, Second Edition—National Child Traumatic 

Stress Network (NCTSN)

This comprehensive guide provides an overview of the use of PFA, as well as detailed 

information on the eight core actions; sample PFA responses with children, youth, and 

adults; and handouts for PFA providers and disaster/terrorism survivors. This guide has 

been translated into Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese. 

https://www.nctsn.org/resources/psychological-first-aid-pfa-field-operations-guide-2nd-edition

Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program (CCP) 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) implements the CCP as a supplemental 

assistance program available to the United States and its territories. Section 416 of the Robert 

T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, 1974 authorizes FEMA to fund 

mental health assistance and training activities in Presidentially declared major disaster areas. 

When this is approved the state mental health authority is the lead.

Skills for Psychological Recovery (SPR) 

(From the Skills for Psychological Recovery Field Operations Guide, 2007.) 

“SPR is an evidence-informed modular approach to help children, adolescents, adults, and 

families in the weeks and months after disasters and terrorism, after the period where PFA is 

utilized. SPR is designed to reduce ongoing distress caused by traumatic events and to foster 

short- and long-term adaptive functioning and coping.

Principles and techniques of SPR meet four basis standards: 

• Consistent with research evidence on risk and resilience following trauma;

• Applicable and practical in field settings;

• Appropriate for developmental levels across the lifespan; and

• Culturally informed and delivered in a flexible manner.” 
Page 3 of 10

The goals of SPR are as follows: 

• Protect the mental health of disaster survivors. 

• Promote and/or accelerate recovery. 

• Prevent maladaptive behaviors. 

These goals will be accomplished by helping the survivor to:

• Manage distress

• Address adjustment

• Identify and reframe obstacles and challenges

• Promote positive plans and activities

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) 

(From the MHFA website, https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org.)

“Mental Health First Aid is a groundbreaking public education program that helps the public 

identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders.

Mental Health First Aid is offered in the form of an interactive 12-hour course that presents an

overview of mental illness and substance use disorders in the U.S. and introduces participants 

to risk factors and warning signs of mental health problems, builds understanding of their 

impact, and overviews common treatments. Those who take the 12-hour course to certify as 

Mental Health First Aiders learn a 5-step action plan encompassing the skills, resources, and 

knowledge to help an individual in crisis connect with appropriate professional, peer, social, and 

self-help care.”

Suicide Prevention

(From the Question, Persuade, and Refer [QPR] Institute website, https://qprinstitute.com.) 

Suicide prevention training is beneficial to offer to crisis counselors and team leaders working in 

a CCP. Experiencing a disaster can cause severe depression in many disaster survivors, 

especially those who experience serious financial distress as result of the disaster. Suicide 

prevention training will help crisis counselors identify those at risk of suicidal behaviors and get 

them the help they need. 

The following suicide prevention training resources are available:

• Suicide Prevention Resource Center—https://training.sprc.org

• QPR Institute—https://qprinstitute.com
Page 4 of 10

• Helpline Center—https://www.helplinecenter.org/suicide-and-crisis-support

QPR is an internationally recognized suicide prevention program that stands for question, 

persuade, and refer. QPR Gatekeeper Training provides the knowledge needed to reach out to 

a friend, peer, student, family member, or colleague who may be experiencing suicidal ideation

and connect him or her to resources that will help.

This training will provide gatekeepers with the knowledge needed to assist someone in crisis by

doing these things: 

• Recognizing the warning signs of suicide

• Knowing how to offer hope

• Knowing how to get help and save a life

Grief Training 

Often during outreach, crisis counselors will encounter survivors who have lost a loved one in or 

as a result of the disaster. Grief training will provide crisis counselors with the guidance needed 

to help those suffering from the loss of a loved one and build the skills for coping with this loss. 

Possible topics to discuss during this training include the following: 

• Guidelines for helping the bereaved

• The grieving process, including the five stages of loss and grief

• Effects of loss in family systems

• Cultural diversity in bereavement

The following grief training resource is available:

• Childhood Traumatic Grief Web Training (Medical University of South Carolina)—

https://tfcbt2.musc.edu

Division of Child Services—Identification of Child Abuse 

and Reporting Procedures

Research has shown that there is an increase in reports of child abuse following natural 

disasters. As such, it is imperative that crisis counseling staff be able to recognize indicators of 

child neglect and/or abuse and be familiar with the reporting process. 

Training on the identification of child abuse and neglect and the subsequent reporting

procedures would include the following elements: 
Page 5 of 10

(From the Child Abuse and Neglect Recognition and Intervention Training Curriculum Guideline 

by the Virginia Board of Education and the Virginia Department of Social Services available at

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/boe/guidance/health/child_abuse_intervention_training.pdf.) 

• Recognizing child abuse and neglect

o Goal 1: To become familiar with three types of child abuse and neglect

 Physical abuse

 Sexual abuse

 Neglect

o Goal 2: To be able to recognize physical and behavioral indicators of child abuse 

and neglect

 Legal definitions

 Operational definitions

 Child indicators

• Physical

• Behavioral

 Caretaker indicators

 Abuse and neglect of children with disabilities

• Risk factors related to the disability

 Truancy/compulsory attendance

 Corporal punishment

• Reporting requirements

o Goal 3: To be able to identify when it is necessary to report to child protective services

 Mandated report requirements

• Penalty for failure to report

• Liability for reporting

 Reporting protocols for school employees

 Complaints against school personnel

o Goal 4: To understand procedures for reporting to social services

 Reporting procedures

 Confidentiality requirements

o Goal 5: To understand social services’ response to a report
Page 6 of 10

The following is an example of a Child Abuse and Neglect training resource available online:

• Child abuse and neglect: Recognizing, reporting, and responding for educators— 

It is recommended that a representative from the state department of social services or 

department of children and families provide this training.

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/teaching/licensure/child_abuse_training.shtml

Healing After Trauma Skills (HATS) 

(From the HATS manual at 

https://cpeip.fsu.edu/storm/StormresourcesFiles/resourceFile_59.pdf.)

“HATS was designed to be facilitated by teachers, psychologists, and other counselors working 

with children. Although developed for use in the classroom or with small groups of children, it can 

be amended for use with individual children. It can be useful for children who have experienced 

either natural or human-caused trauma/disaster. The manual was designed to provide 

information about children impacted by trauma/disaster, to enhance sharing of experiences, 

ideas, and thoughts about the trauma/disaster, and to build a repertoire of coping skills.” 

Compassion Fatigue 

Compassion fatigue is the natural consequence of stress resulting from caring for and helping 

those who are traumatized or suffering. This condition has been clinically defined as the formal 

caregiver’s reduced capacity and is the consequent behavior and emotional state resulting from 

knowing about a traumatizing event experienced or suffered by another person.

Possible compassion fatigue training topics include the following: 

• Overview of compassion fatigue 

• Factors that may lead to compassion fatigue

• Symptoms of compassion fatigue

• Prevention of compassion fatigue

• Recovery from compassion fatigue

The following compassion fatigue training is available:

• Compassion Fatigue and Self Care (a module within Sexual Assault 

Advocate/Counselor Training, adaptable for outreach workers)—

https://www.ovcttac.gov/saact/module7.cfm
Page 7 of 10

Self-care

Disaster response and recovery work can be rewarding; however, it can negatively affect your 

health. Compassion fatigue is the stress outreach workers may feel after repeatedly helping 

traumatized people. Symptoms can include feeling like you are failing at your job, overwhelming 

exhaustion or depression, cynical thoughts, and hopelessness.

Practicing self-care, such as simple stress reduction activities, can help outreach workers feel 

better while working with disaster survivors.

The following are additional resources:

• Assistance Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) Technical Resources,

Assistance Center, and Information Exchange (TRACIE) Disaster Behavioral Health:

Self Care for Healthcare Workers Modules—

https://files.asprtracie.hhs.gov/documents/aspr-tracie-dbh-self-care-for-healthcareworkers-modules-description-final-8-19-19.pdf

• Addressing disaster and emergency stress beyond first responders: Implications for

individuals, families, and the workplace—Tulane University School of Public Health and

Tropical Medicine

This training from the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine

covers sources of stress for disaster workers other than first responders, including staff

of federal agencies, state and local public health agencies, utilities, social services,

repair and cleanup contractors, and voluntary organizations. The training categorizes

and describes stressors; discusses signs of stress and their effects on individuals and

families; and presents strategies for individuals, families, and workplaces for managing

stress and fostering flexibility after a disaster or traumatic event.

http://lms.southcentralpartnership.org/course/viewguest.php?id=252

Stress Management

(From the Federal Emergency Management Agency Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training 

Program Guidance from the CCP Application Toolkit, Version 5.0, July 2016, at 

https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/images/fema-ccp-guidance.pdf.) 

For services provided to be high in quality, the outreach staff providing them must be able to 

engage in self-care while they assist others. Many staff members of a CCP are also survivors of 

the disaster. Interacting with disaster survivors is extremely rewarding but also may produce 

strong levels of anxiety, frustration, anger, or depression in some workers. Sustained service 

provision can become debilitating when coupled with a staff member’s personal experience of 

loss. It is, therefore, critical that ongoing staff stress management is integrated into the CCP at 

all levels of the program. All standard CCP trainings provided by the Substance Abuse and 

Mental Health Services Administration include content on individual staff stress management. 
Page 8 of 10

The program management plan developed by the state, territory, or tribe must include 

provisions for organizational stress management.

Elements of an organizational stress management plan are as follows:

• A clearly defined management and supervision structure

• Defined purpose and goals

• Functionally defined roles reinforced through effective supervision

• Sound clinical consultation, support, and supervision

• Supportive peer relationships

• Active stress management program

• Comprehensive training plan

The following stress management resources are available online:

• Dealing with stress in disasters: Building psychological resilience—Local Public Health 

Institute of Massachusetts

This 2-hour training describes the stressors that response work may involve and 

possible consequences of stress. It equips responders with an arsenal of techniques for 

addressing and managing stress and heightening resilience. The training provides an indepth look at the stress response within an individual, defines and describes 

compassion fatigue, explores individual and group resilience, and introduces PFA and 

other methods and approaches to coping with stress and fostering flexibility after a 

disaster or traumatic event. 

http://sites.bu.edu/masslocalinstitute/2011/10/19/dealing-with-stress-in-disasters

• Resilience and Stress Management installment of the Disaster Behavioral Health 

Information Series, a web-based resource collection—https://www.samhsa.gov/dbhiscollections/resilience-stress-management?term=Resilience-Stress-Management-DBHIS

• Stress Management web page—https://www.helpguide.org/home-pages/stressmanagement.htm

Cultural Competency 

Cultural competency curriculum for disaster preparedness and crisis response—U.S. 

Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health (HHS, OMH)

This program is designed for first responders, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), 

emergency managers, physical and behavioral healthcare practitioners, and others who 
Page 9 of 10

work on disaster preparedness and response and would like to ensure that they provide 

culturally and linguistically appropriate services. OMH developed this curriculum to help 

people involved in disaster response and support of disaster-affected communities to 

provide services that reach and are effective for people of all cultures. EMTs, 

psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and dentists can earn continuing education 

credits for completion of the curriculum. 

https://thinkculturalhealth.hhs.gov/education/disaster-personnel

General Disaster Behavioral Health 

• Disaster behavioral health—University of Washington, School of Public Health, 

Northwest Center for Public Health Practice 

Designed for public health workers including behavioral health providers and 

practitioners, healthcare providers and practitioners, first responders, and emergency 

planners, this 1-hour training provides an overview of the psychological challenges 

communities may face after a disaster occurs. Topics include the psychological phases 

of a community-wide disaster, mental health risks that rescue workers and victims face, 

and signs a survivor needs additional mental health assistance. 

http://www.nwcphp.org/training/disaster-behavioral-health

• Education, training, and planning resources—U.S. Department of Health and Human 

Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (HHS, CDC) 

The CDC's Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response offers training in 

emergency preparedness and response for public health workers, healthcare workers, 

and public leaders. The trainings focus on public health preparedness and community 

planning and engagement. https://www.cdc.gov/cpr/training.htm

Resume Writing and Interview Skills 

CCPs are temporary programs. As such, the end of programming can create increased anxiety 

among CCP staff. As the program phases down, crisis counselors and team leaders will face 

unemployment. It is recommended that CCP leadership provide resume writing and interview 

skills training to ease the anxiety and provide the necessary skills for crisis counselors and team 

leaders to have greater chances of finding new employment once the CCP ends. Participants in

this training will learn how to write a professional resume and cover letter. In addition, this 

training will cover interviewing skills and techniques and methods for networking. Another 

possible topic is developing a career portfolio.

This training should take place toward the end of a CCP, after the Regular Services Program

Phasedown Training.
Page 10 of 10

The following resume writing and skill building resources are available:

• Goodwill Community Foundation—Resume Writing—

https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/resumewriting

• Monster, a popular online job-search site—https://www.monster.com

• CareerBuilder, another online job-search site—https://www.careerbuilder.com

It is recommended the state human resources department or provider’s human resources 

department facilitates this training.