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Post-9/11, many faith-based responders expressed the opinion that they were neither prepared nor trained to recognize the mental health needs of long-term trauma survivors. With funding through the Red Cross, an interdisciplinary trauma training program was developed to increase the capacity of the New York Southern Baptist Church groups to provide trauma assessment and support through the Metropolitan Baptist Association of New York. Through a pretest and posttest survey, the training was evaluated. Of the workshop attendees, 91% gave positive feedback and felt the training was worthwhile. The results suggest an ongoing need for interdisciplinary training that includes faith-based groups.

This one-day workshop on drug education program development combined didactic features with innovative group techniques to generate a practical list of needs, resources and possible programs for use in public schools. Participants discovered that by using specialized inservice training and auxiliary paraprofessional personnel, many of the needs of their schools in the area of drug education might be met without relying on the assistance of outside “expert” consultants. The workshop leaders used psychodrama as a vehicle for cognitive exploration of possible resources and obstacles to proposed drug education programs. The closing activity was the establishing of contracts with individuals or teams from the same schools to implement the program ideas generated in the workshop.