Health professionals in the disaster recovery space

Health professionals are increasingly faced with caring for people experiencing trauma and loss as the result of a natural disaster. Because of the high visibility, physical ailments and issues are often prioritised, albeit with an empathetic and compassionate approach (West et al., 2020). During such times the attention of health professionals to emotional and psychological ailments and presentations that cross the“bodymind” divide should be considered of equal importance, as found in Australia where “The social costs of natural disasters in 2015 were at least equal to the physical costs—if not greater” (Deloitte Access Economics, 2016, p.2). Rich emotional and psycho physiological care involves the mindful and embodied management of grief and trauma reactions. As individuals move into healing and building their resiliency the importance of the systems and processes that health care providers can foster become paramount(Gibbs et al., 2013; Moloney et al., 2018). These approaches to emotional and psychological recovery are deliverable across the spectrum of health care presentations and settings and form part of a more nuanced understanding of trauma informed care and recovery practice (see for example, Clearyet al., 2020).