Trauma, Resilience, and Posttraumatic Growth in Frontline Personnel

Trauma, Resilience, and Posttraumatic Growth in Frontline Personnel examines the history, context, nature, and complexity of working in front-line services. Chapters provide a detailed overview of specific mental health models that are applicable both on a day-to-day basis and to disaster and major event response. The book also details elements of mental health responses that have been proven to facilitate coping, minimize risk, and promote both resilience and posttraumatic growth. These strategies include, but are not limited to, peer support programs, mental health education, and psychological first aid. Each chapter incorporates research on PTSD, anxiety, and depression as well as research relating to posttraumatic growth, resilience, connectedness, and belongingness. 

Trauma, Resilience, and Posttraumatic Growth in Frontline Personnel is a vital guide for those who provide care to trauma survivors as well as for researchers and scholars.

"This refreshing book notes that trauma emerges from the subjective response to the event, rather than the event itself. This is the first book to extend beyond traditional frontline professions to include others that are also vulnerable to trauma and traumatic reactions. As a result, the book is an extraordinary and lucid overview of the field from the perspective of trauma and posttraumatic growth."

Charles R. Figley, PhD, the Tulane University Paul Henry Kurzweg, MD, distinguished chair in Disaster Mental Health and director of the Tulane University Traumatology Institute

"Internationally known researcher Jane Shakespeare-Finch has teamed up with an extensive range of interdisciplinary colleagues to produce this important collection. This is a beautifully organized book that follows the journeys of emergency first responders to those who remain involved long after the immediate situation averts, and it combines personal vignettes with rigorous reviews of the literature. It will serve as a welcome resource to students, academics, and practitioners alike."

Professor Cheryl Regehr, vice president and provost, University of Toronto

"This book makes an invaluable contribution to the literature on resilience and posttraumatic growth. There are similarities but also distinct differences among the various groups of frontline workers. Each chapter provides a unique understanding of posttraumatic growth that is greatly needed not only to facilitate health and wellness in the individual, but also to improve our overall society. I highly recommend the work of these authors."

Professor Brian A. Chopko, PhD, PD, Department of Sociology and Criminology, Kent State University at Stark