Abstract
This introductory chapter opens the volume on Positive Psychological Approaches to Disaster. The text is a natural extension of the special issue on disaster mental health and positive psychology that appeared in a 2016 issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychology. These areas of applied science have much to offer one another. A rationale and overview for the book is presented, along with a brief summary of the project’s origins. Specific attention is paid to Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning (1959) given its guiding role in the current endeavor. In many respects Frankl’s experiences and lifework anticipated the development, integration, and application of these fields of study and practice, areas essential to human health and well-being, with particular relevance for the occurrence of adversity. Contributions to the book are organized around the themes of meaning, resilience, and posttraumatic growth. The contexts considered are those that involve natural and/or technological disasters.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Baczwaski, B. J., Aiena, B. J., & Schulenberg, S. E. (2018). Deepwater Horizon oil spill (2010). In D. H. McElreath, D. A. Doss, R. Nations, J. M. Van Slyke, C. J. Jensen, B. R. Russo, R. C. Tesiero, S. E. Schulenberg, L. S. McElreath, A. Wellman, & A. M. Lindsley (Eds.), Disasters that shaped emergency management: Case studies for the homeland security/emergency management professional (pp. 181–189). Dubuque: Kendall Hunt.
Calhoun, L. G., & Tedeschi, R. G. (2008). The paradox of struggling with trauma: Guidelines for practice and directions for research. In S. Joseph & P. A. Linley (Eds.), Trauma, recovery, and growth: Positive psychological perspectives on posttraumatic stress (pp. 325–337). Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
Calhoun, L. G., & Tedeschi, R. G. (2013). Posttraumatic growth in clinical practice. New York: Routledge.
Clements, B. W., & Casani, J. A. P. (2016). Disasters and public health: Planning and response (2nd ed.). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Diener, E. (2009). Positive psychology: Past, present, and future. In S. J. Lopez & C. R. Snyder (Eds.), Oxford handbook of positive psychology (2nd ed., pp. 7–11). New York: Oxford University Press.
Florez, I. A., Schulenberg, S. E., & Stewart, T. L. (2016). Meaning and automatic stereotyping: Advancing an agenda for research. In A. Batthyany (Ed.), Logotherapy and Existential Analysis: Proceedings of the Viktor Frankl Institute, Vienna (Vol. 1, pp. 107–124). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-29424-7_11.
Frankl, V. E. (1959/1985). Man’s search for meaning. (rev. ed.). New York: Washington Square Press.
Halpern, J., & Tramontin, M. (2007). Disaster mental health: Theory and practice. Belmont: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
Hutzell, R. R. (2006, February 1). The continued relevance of Man’s Search for Meaning [Review of the book Man’s Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy]. PsycCRITIQUES—Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 51 (No. 5), Article 19. Retrieved April 6, 2006, from the PsycCRITIQUES database.
Jacobs, G. A. (1995). The development of a national plan for disaster mental health. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 26, 543–549.
Jacobs, G. A. (2007). The development and maturation of humanitarian psychology. American Psychologist, 62, 932–941.
Jacobs, G. A. (2016). Community-based psychological first aid: A practical guide to helping individuals and communities during difficult times. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Jacobs, G. A., Quevillon, R. P., & Stricherz, M. (1990). Lessons from the aftermath of Flight 232: Practical considerations for the mental health profession’s response to air disasters. American Psychologist, 45, 1329–1335.
Janoff-Bulman, R. (1992). Shattered assumptions: Towards a new psychology of trauma. New York: Free Press.
Linley, P. A. (2013). Positive psychology (history). In S. J. Lopez (Ed.), The encyclopedia of positive psychology (pp. 742–746). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Lopez, S. J., & Gallagher, M. W. (2009). A case for positive psychology. In S. J. Lopez & C. R. Snyder (Eds.), Oxford handbook of positive psychology (2nd ed., pp. 3–6). New York: Oxford University Press.
Niemiec, R. M. (2018). Character strengths interventions: A field guide for practitioners. Boston: Hogrefe.
Niemiec, R. M., & McGrath, R. E. (2019). The power of character strengths. Cincinnati: VIA Institute on Character.
Park, C. L. (2010). Making sense of the meaning literature: An integrative review of meaning making and its effects on adjustment to stressful life events. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 257–301. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018301.
Park, C. L., Currier, J. M., Harris, J. I., & Slattery, J. M. (2016). Trauma, meaning, and spirituality: Translating research into clinical practice. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Peterson, C. (2013). Pursuing the good life: 100 reflections on positive psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Schulenberg, S. E. (2003). Empirical research and logotherapy. Psychological Reports, 93, 307–319. https://doi.org/10.2466/PR0.93.5.307-319.
Schulenberg, S. E. (2014, May). Meaning and disaster mental health. Paper presented at the 2nd International Conference on Logotherapy & Existential Analysis, Vienna, Austria.
Schulenberg, S. E. (2016). Disaster mental health and positive psychology – Considering the context of natural and technological disasters: An introduction to the special issue. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 72, 1223–1233. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22409.
Schulenberg, S. E., Dellinger, K. A., Koestler, A. J., Kinnell, A. M. K., Swanson, D. A., Van Boening, M. V., & Forgette, R. G. (2008). Psychologists and Hurricane Katrina: Natural disaster response through training, public education, and research. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 2, 83–88. https://doi.org/10.1037/1931-3918.2.2.83.
Schulenberg, S. E., Drescher, C. F., & Baczwaski, B. J. (2014). Perceived meaning and disaster mental health: A role for logotherapy in clinical-disaster psychology. In A. Batthyany & P. Russo-Netzer (Eds.), Meaning in positive and existential psychology (pp. 251–267). New York: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0308-5_15.
Schulenberg, S. E., Hutzell, R. R., Nassif, C., & Rogina, J. M. (2008). Logotherapy for clinical practice. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 45, 447–463. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014331.
Schulenberg, S. E., Johnson, L. F., Drescher, C. F., Herzog, J. D., Willoughby, S. G., & Allen, M. (2014). Enhancing graduate student training through collaborative research: Working and learning together in response to the Gulf oil spill. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 8, 312–319. https://doi.org/10.1037/tep0000062.
Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55, 5–14.
Southwick, S. M., & Charney, D. S. (2018). Resilience: The science of mastering life’s greatest challenges (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Steger, M. F. (2012). Experiencing meaning in life: Optimal functioning at the nexus of well-being, psychopathology, and spirituality. In P. T. P. Wong (Ed.), The human quest for meaning: Theories, research, and applications (2nd ed., pp. 165–184). New York: Routledge.
Weathers, L. N., Aiena, B. J., Blackwell, M. A., & Schulenberg, S. E. (2016). The significance of meaning to conceptualizations of resilience and posttraumatic growth: Strengthening the foundation for research and practice. In P. Russo-Netzer, S. E. Schulenberg, & A. Batthyany (Eds.), Clinical perspectives on meaning: Positive and existential psychotherapy (pp. 149–169). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Yutrzenka, B. A., & Naifeh, J. A. (2008). Traumatic stress, disaster psychology, and graduate education: Reflections on the special section and recommendations for professional psychology training. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 2, 96–102.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Schulenberg, S.E. (2020). Positive Psychological Approaches to Disaster: An Introduction. In: Schulenberg, S. (eds) Positive Psychological Approaches to Disaster. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32007-2_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32007-2_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-32006-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-32007-2
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)