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Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention Advance Access originally published online on August 28, 2006
Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention 2006 6(4):337-348; doi:10.1093/brief-treatment/mhl009
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Using Stress, Appraisal, and Coping Theories in Clinical Practice: Assessments of Coping Strategies After Disasters

   Monica M. Matthieu, PhD, LCSW
   André Ivanoff, PhD

From the Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide, Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center (Matthieu) and the Columbia University School of Social Work (Ivanoff)

Contact author: Monica M. Matthieu, Senior Instructor and National Research Service Award Fellow, Center for the Study and Prevention of Suicide, Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, 300 Crittenden Boulevard, Box PSYCH, Rochester, NY 14642. E-mail: monica_matthieu{at}urmc.rochester.edu.

This conceptual article describes transactional theory (R. S. Lazarus, 1999; R. S. Lazarus & S. Folkman, 1984), a framework that integrates stress, appraisal, and coping theories as they relate to how individuals react to psychologically stressful situations and/or environments. In clinical practice, this theoretical framework can be effectively utilized in the assessment, intervention, and evaluation of an individual's psychological stress and coping responses. This paper also discusses the role that theory can play in facilitating clinicians' assessment of the coping strategies their clients use to decrease distress in the aftermath of a disaster. Illustrative examples are drawn from studies on social workers who experienced the World Trade Center disaster in New York City. Theoretical knowledge about stress, more specifically coping with the impact of psychological stress, will provide information that can help clinical professionals more effectively assist clients in resuming positive functioning and well-being after a disaster.

KEY WORDS: disaster, theory, coping, September 11, mental health professionals, graduate students






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