Kira Mauseth, PhD, Psychology is the co-lead of the Behavioral Health Strike Team for the Washington State Department of Health; she specializes in disaster relief work in her clinical role as a practicing psychologist. She participated in a press conference held by the state Joint Information Center on May 7. She spoke on behalf of the team's work with forecasting and preparing guidance for the behavioral health issues associated with COVID19. Read the press coverage:
The Behavioral Health Response Strike Team provides mental health support to survivors, emergency responders, and the larger community in the event of a disaster. The principal focus of this strike team is to minimize the harmful psychological effects of stress and trauma on surviving individuals and families immediately following a disaster. All team members receive specialized training, including Psychological First Aid training.
Dr. Mauseth is a practicing clinical psychologist who specializes in work with teens and adults. She teaches courses in Abnormal Psychology, Introduction to Counseling, Writing for Research in Psychology and Senior Seminar in addition to a UCOR course on The Psychology of Change: Why Therapy Works. Her research interests are related to small and large-scale disaster preparation, response, and recovery, particularly in terms of community education and resilience. Dr. Mauseth is currently working on research related to human recovery from and resilience to large-scale disaster. Influences on resilience including faith, culture, substance use and other coping mechanisms are explored.