Texans: Do You Know Someone Seeking Mental Health Resources After the Recent Flooding Disaster?

Mental Health and Trauma Resources in Response to Recent Flooding

The recent storms and severe flooding created numerous hazardous conditions for many states. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network has developed resources to help families and communities navigate what they are seeing and hearing, acknowledge their feelings, and find ways to cope together. Resources include:

• After a Crisis: Helping Young Children Heal (En Español)

• Age-Related Reactions to a Traumatic Event (En Español; ASL)

• Simple Activities for Children and Adolescents (En Español)

• Once I Was Very Very Scared (En Español)  – children’s book

• Talking to Children: When Scary Things Happen (En Español)

• Creating Supportive Environments When Scary Things Happen (En Español)

• Helping Youth after Community Trauma: Tips for Educators(En Español)

• Helping Teens with Traumatic Grief: Tips for Caregivers (En Español)

• Helping School-Age Children with Traumatic Grief: Tips for Caregivers (En Español)

• Helping Young Children with Traumatic Grief: Tips for Caregivers (En Español)

• The Power of Parenting: How to Help Your Child After a Parent or Caregiver Dies

• Pause-Reset-Nourish (PRN) to Promote Wellbeing (En Español)  (for responders)

Psychological First Aid

The NCTSN also has resources for responders on Psychological First Aid (PFA; En Español). PFA is an early intervention to support children, adolescents, adults, and families impacted by these types of events. PFA Mobile and the PFA Wallet Card (En Español) provide a quick reminder of the core actions. The PFA online training (En Español) course is also available on the NCTSN Learning Center. PFA Handouts include:

• Parent Tips for Helping Infants and Toddlers (En Español)

• Parent Tips for Helping Preschoolers (En Español)

• Parent Tips for Helping School-Age Children (En Español)

• Parent Tips for Helping Adolescents (En Español)

• Tips for Adults (En Español)

Mobile Apps

• Help Kids Cope

• SAMHSA Behavioral Health Disaster Response App

• Bounce Back Now (En Español)

Available from the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Uniformed Services University and other Partners:

• Sustaining the Psychological Well-Being of Caregivers While Caring for Disaster Victims

• Safety, Recovery and Hope after Disaster: Helping Communities and Families Recovery

• Leadership Communication: Anticipating and Responding to Stressful Events

• Clean Up Safely After a Disaster (En Español)

• Reentering Your Flooded Home(En Español)

Disaster Helpline

SAMHSA has a Disaster Distress Helpline – call or text 1-800-985-5990 (for Spanish, press “2”) to be connected to a trained counselor 24/7/365.

Additional Resources

For those that are needing technical assistance or additional resources, please don’t hesitate to contact Dr. Melissa Brymer at mbrymer@mednet.ucla.edu.