Urgent Need for LMFTs to Volunteer with the American Red Cross!
The American Red Cross is urgently seeking Marriage and Family Therapists and other licensed mental health professionals available to volunteer and deploy nationally to large-scale disasters, including those communities impacted recently by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Red Cross Disaster Mental Health volunteers support disaster survivors, responders, and impacted communities by using their specialized skills to manage disaster-related stress and build individual and community resilience.
Role of Disaster Mental Health Volunteers: Volunteers utilize short-term, strengths-based strategies to support those impacted by disaster. They provide Psychological First Aid, crisis intervention, psychoeducation, assessment, and referrals. Clinical skills are used to determine individual needs and facilitate 9-1-1 calls for those in danger. Note: The Red Cross does not provide therapy, treatment, or diagnosis.
Key characteristics of effective disaster mental health volunteers: Red Cross disaster volunteers are expected to demonstrate resilience, flexibility, empathy, cultural sensitivity, physical stamina, and strong problem-solving and communication skills. Volunteers must also be willing to work under challenging conditions.
Deployment expectations: Volunteers work in dynamic, chaotic environments under ever-changing conditions. In extreme cases this can include power outages and limited access to the internet, mobile cell service, dietary choices, showering facilities, and other day-to-day comforts. It may also be necessary for volunteers to share sleeping accommodations in staff shelters or hotel rooms. A typical workday may find volunteers working 10–12-hour shifts in general population shelters, on community outreach teams, or in support of mobile feeding, distribution of emergency supplies, or other Red Cross activities. Deployments can be anywhere within the United States and typically last a minimum of 10-14 days.
Pre-Deployment training: Prior to deployment, Disaster Mental Health volunteers are required to take approximately 7.5 hours of virtual and web-based training that provides an overview of the Red Cross mission, Disaster Mental Health services, and how to navigate Red Cross electronic client management systems.
Eligibility: To be eligible to volunteer with the Disaster Mental Health program, volunteers must have a Master’s Degree or above in one of the following mental health fields, and hold a current, unencumbered license from, or is registered with, any U.S. state or territory as a Marriage and Family Therapist, Social Worker, Psychologist, Professional Counselor, School Counselor, or Psychiatrist (any level license/registration, including non-clinical licenses such as Licensed Masters Social Worker or LMSW). Additionally, psychiatric nurses are also able to join if they have two years of psychiatric work experience and a current, unencumbered nursing license.
If you have any questions, please contact Shannon Goodhue, PhD, Senior Program Manager, Disaster Mental Health, with the American Red Cross at shannon.goodhue@redcross.org or AAMFT at familyteam@aamft.org.
