Climate Informed Disaster Behavioral Response - by Steve Crimando & Debbie Sturm (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The behavioral health consequences of climate-fueled disasters are accelerating -- yet the field has been slow to respond. A national survey found fewer than 10% of behavioral health professionals had educational resources on climate change and behavioral health, and nearly 45% felt unprepared to address it clinically. A Climate-Informed Approach to Disaster Behavioral Health is the first text to close that gap, equipping counselors, social workers, psychologists, emergency managers, and students across disciplines with the knowledge and tools to meet this growing challenge.

Coverage spans the full disaster cycle -- preparedness, impact, and extended recovery -- integrating climate science with behavioral health outcomes and response systems including FEMA, NIMS, ICS, and VOADs. Chapter-level case examples, voices from the field, practitioner exercises, and responder-focused resources support both graduate coursework and agency training, building from individual helper preparedness to community-level response.

Readers will also find:

• Integration of eco-anxiety and anticipatory climate distress with post-disaster behavioral health consequences including PTSD, depression, grief, and anxiety disorders
• Interprofessional collaboration frameworks connecting behavioral health providers with emergency management personnel across organizational and disciplinary boundaries
• Alignment with federal requirements that every U.S. state, territory, and tribe maintain disaster behavioral health response capacity
• Practical tools for building a climate-informed workforce prepared to meet rapidly growing demand for post-disaster behavioral health support
• Content analysis of fourteen existing crisis and disaster textbooks identifying specific gaps this volume addresses in climate coverage

Designed for counselors, psychologists, social workers, disaster behavioral health responders, and emergency management professionals, this book also serves as a primary text for graduate courses in crisis, disaster, and trauma counseling within behavioral health training programs -- preparing the next generation of climate-informed practitioners.

From the Back Cover

The behavioral health consequences of climate-fueled disasters are accelerating -- yet the field has been slow to respond.

A national survey found fewer than 10% of behavioral health professionals had educational resources on climate change and behavioral health, and nearly 45% felt unprepared to address it clinically. A Climate-Informed Approach to Disaster Behavioral Health is the first text to close that gap, equipping counselors, social workers, psychologists, emergency managers, and students across disciplines with the knowledge and tools to meet this growing challenge.

Coverage spans the full disaster cycle -- preparedness, impact, and extended recovery -- integrating climate science with behavioral health outcomes and response systems including FEMA, NIMS, ICS, and VOADs. Chapter-level case examples, voices from the field, practitioner exercises, and responder-focused resources support both graduate coursework and agency training, building from individual helper preparedness to community-level response.

Readers will also find:

• Integration of eco-anxiety and anticipatory climate distress with post-disaster behavioral health consequences including PTSD, depression, grief, and anxiety disorders
• Interprofessional collaboration frameworks connecting behavioral health providers with emergency management personnel across organizational and disciplinary boundaries
• Alignment with federal requirements that every U.S. state, territory, and tribe maintain disaster behavioral health response capacity
• Practical tools for building a climate-informed workforce prepared to meet rapidly growing demand for post-disaster behavioral health support
• Content analysis of fourteen existing crisis and disaster textbooks identifying specific gaps this volume addresses in climate coverage

Designed for counselors, psychologists, social workers, disaster behavioral health responders, and emergency management professionals, this book also serves as a primary text for graduate courses in crisis, disaster, and trauma counseling within behavioral health training programs -- preparing the next generation of climate-informed practitioners.

About the Author

Steven M. Crimando, MA, is an emergency and disaster behavioral health clinician with four decades of frontline experience. He is the founder and principal of Behavioral Science Applications, LLC, a global behavioral risk management consultancy. Steve serves as a consultant to the SAMHSA Disaster Technical Assistance Center and the disaster mental health committee of the Climate Psychology Alliance of North America, as well as an instructor for the U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Institute Climate Diplomacy Program.

Debbie C. Sturm, PhD, LPCC-S is a Professor at James Madison University, a licensed professional clinical counselor, clinical supervisor, and certified Forest Therapist specializing in grief, trauma, and climate-related distress. She has served on ACA's Climate Crisis Task Force, led the development of national climate change and environmental justice competencies for counselor education, and developed curriculum, training, and supervision guidance for counselors on climate-informed disaster response. She is also co-author of a companion Wiley volume on climate change and counseling curriculum.