ABSTRACT
A basic principle to recognize in working with problems of children and their parents who have experienced a disaster is that they are essentially normal functioning individuals who have been subjected to sudden unusual and great stress. Although there is always the possibility of prior psychopathology that might exacerbate their reactions, most often the problems which appear are likely to be directly related to the disaster. The process recommended for helping the children and families often starts with crisis intervention, which has as its primary goal to identify, assess, and relieve the stresses developed as a result of the hazard (disaster) and thereby to reestablish the level of previous functioning as quickly as possible (Caplan, 1980; Wainrib & Bloch, 1998).
