Therapy after Terror
9/11, Psychotherapists, and Mental Health

An illuminating study of the consequences of 9/11 and the costs of providing psychological care.

Karen M. Seeley (Author)

9781107459977, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 1 January 2015

254 pages
23 x 15 x 1.5 cm, 0.38 kg

"The author's use of interviews, historical material, and superb critical analysis makes this book a must-read for anyone interested in studying the effects of a traumatic events on large-scale populations."
--Irene Javors, Yeshiva University, Journal of Anthropological Research

Therapy After Terror examines the 2001 World Trade Center attack from the perspectives of New York City mental health professionals who treated the psychologically wounded following the attack. Therapists discuss the attack's effects on their patients, its personal and professional consequences for them, and the ways it challenged fundamental aspects of clinical theory and practice. The book describes crisis mental health services that were established after the attack, as well as longer-term treatments. It also examines notions of trauma, diagnostic procedures, and the politics of psychological treatment. Seeley uses her unique interdisciplinary background as she provides a detailed study of the post-9/11 mental health crisis, including depictions of the restricted 'hot spots' such as the Lexington Avenue Armory, Family Assistance Centers, and Respite Centers at Ground Zero, where mental health workers delivered aid.

1. Histories of trauma
2. Volunteers for America
3. 'Get me counselors!'
4. The psychological treatment of trauma
5. The trauma of psychological treatment
6. Diagnosing post-traumatic stress disorder
7. Trauma as metaphor
8. Mental health in traumatic times.

Subject Areas: Clinical psychology [MMJ], Psychiatry [MMH], Social work [JKSN]