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Discussion guide and resources developed after terrorist attacks

To encourage discussion, understanding and coping, the American Psychological Association (APA) has developed new outreach materials to assist practitioners in talking to youth and children about traumatic events, particularly the tragedies of September 11.

Following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, APA members immediately began to use the new outreach materials in their communities. For example, Montie Mills, Ph.D used them in a discussion with a youth group at his church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

“They had seen hours of news coverage in their schools but most had had little chance for discussion and debriefing with adults outside their immediate families,” says Dr. Mills. “Many observed their teachers reacting to the breaking news, and realized by watching their panic and pain that something terrible had happened. Overall I was very impressed with their thoughts about the tragedy, ability to think toward solutions to the problem, and compassion for their fellow citizens.”

Additionally, California’s Public Education Campaign Coordinator Jana Martin presented the materials at a meeting of psychologists in Orange County and also held a meeting with parents at her daughter’s Long Beach middle school to discuss the tragedy.

APA’s Disaster Response Network Advisory Committee members and APA’s Public Education Campaign Coordinators collaborated to develop the outreach materials which include a discussion guide, resource list, suggested planning steps and information about common concerns and questions for students of different ages.

The youth focus of the outreach materials is a response to requests for information about how to talk to children about terrorist events received by APA, state associations and individual APA members. Many APA members who previously were involved in the Warning Signs component of the public education campaign have already developed relationships with their local schools, which have enabled them to use these materials quickly.

These materials are available on APA’s Web site www.apa.org/practice and helping.apa.org, or by calling the Campaign Services Bureau toll free at 877-274-8787 x136.

In addition to the materials for psychologists, information about traumatic stress is available on APA’s consumer Web site, helping.apa.org.

Grassroots Efforts Reach New Heights
ce its launch in 1996, APA members in virtually every state have participated at some level in the Talk to Someone Who Can Help public education campaign, through community events, media outreach, Warning Signs forums and other activities that communicate the value of psychology. Recently, data were collected on campaign activity that helps demonstrate that the campaign continues to grow. In particular:

• To date, more than 1,300 Warning Signs forums have been held nationwide and more than one million Warning Signs guides have been distributed. The Warn- ing Signs guide is available in English or Spanish.
• The Warning Signs for Parents program took off between January and June of this year with 20 states reporting 44 forums with nearly 2,000 adults.
• The Talk to Someone Who Can Help Web site continues to build interest, with more than 1.1 million hits between January 1 and June 30 of this year. Since it went on-line in 1999, the site has had a total of more than 6 million hits.
• APA's consumer Web site, helping.apa.org, was one of only four health related Web sites that made Yahoo Internet Life magazine's annual roundup of the "50 Most Incredibly Useful Sites."
• Since 1999, the campaign’s toll-free line for consumers has had more than 15,000 calls for brochures, referrals to local psycholo- gists or requests for other information.

Check Out the Booth
APA’s “Talk to Someone Who Can Help” exhibit booth is available for use at your state convention, community meeting or other event. The exhibit can be “checked out” from the campaign services bureau, which will ship it to your address or state association at no cost to you or your group.

“It’s easy to set up, and it grabs people’s attention,” says Terrie Lyons who recently used the display in Portland. “It’s professional, dramatic and eye-catching.”

If you would like to reserve the booth for an upcoming event, email your request to PEC or call toll-free 877-274-8787, ext. 135.

Order Materials
Warning Signs outreach kits, videos subtitled in English or Spanish, Spanish language guides, as well as DotComSense, Talk to Someone Who Can Help and Change Your Mind About Mental Health brochures, are available for use at your presentations and meetings.

To save shipping costs (and thus allow us to send more materials to more practitioners), please give as much notice as possible before your event when you order materials.

If you need materials for your local outreach, email your request to PEC. Please be sure to include your return email and telephone number so we can confirm receipt of your email. Of course, you can also still contact us directly, toll-free at 877.274.8787, ext. 135.