Clinical-Disaster Research Center
The Clinical Disaster Research Center is a diverse team of researchers from the University of Mississippi Department of Psychology. The UM-CDRC works within the areas of clinical disaster research, positive psychology, consultation, program evaluation, and disaster response training.
What We Do
Based in Oxford, Mississippi, the University of Mississippi Clinical Disaster Research Center is a diverse team of researchers and graduate students from the University of Mississippi Department of Psychology. The UM-CDRC focuses on research, education, and service in the area of clinical-disaster psychology.
Mission
The mission of The University of Mississippi Clinical-Disaster Research Center is to integrate service, training, research, and education in disaster mental health. We seek to develop evidence-based disaster preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery practices to meet the needs of the University, local community, and region. The UM-CDRC strives to better understand the experiences of those affected by disasters and how they cope with these events. Research is conducted to devise, implement, and evaluate empirically-based disaster preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery programs with the intent of minimizing risk factors and maximizing protective factors. With rigorous, systematic research as a foundation, and with expertise in clinical, community, multicultural, and positive psychology, the UM-CDRC works to understand how concepts like resilience, self-efficacy, and perceived meaning and purpose in life foster disaster recovery and posttraumatic growth.
Director of the Clinical-Disaster Research Center
Stefan Schulenberg
- Professor of Psychology, Director of Interdisciplinary Minor in Disaster Sciences and Director of the Clinical- Disaster Research Center
From dealing with wildfires to hurricanes, program aims to prepare students to help others.
Current Grants and Research
BP Behavioral Health Grant
The UM-CDRC is currently under contract with the Mississippi Department of Mental Health to monitor the BP Behavioral Health Grant in Mississippi. The project includes collaborating with 19 mental health agencies along the Mississippi Gulf Coast to assess psychological variables, services provided, and treatment outcomes in the wake of the Gulf Oil Spill.
Clinical Disaster Research
Natural and man-made disasters often occur unexpectedly and can cause significant difficulties for those living in the disaster affected area. The UM-CDRC conducts research with individuals affected by disasters to better understand their experience and how they cope with these difficulties in both the short- and long-term.
Positive Psychology
Disasters are potentially traumatic experiences that can negatively affect people’s lives. Yet, most disaster survivors recover from these experiences and go on to lead meaningful and productive lives. The UM-CDRC studies how positive attributes, such as perceived meaning and purpose, resilience, and self-efficacy, serve to protect individuals psychologically, and to galvanize them to overcome the effects of a disaster in both the short- and long-term.