Welcome to the National Center for DMHR

The National Center for Disaster Mental Health Research (NCDMHR), funded by the National Institute of Mental Health in September, 2007, was established to facilitate the rigorous study and effective promotion of resilience and wellness in the context of disaster.

It is designed to be methodologically innovative, capable of rapid response to disasters, and responsible to the needs of scientific, policy, and practitioner communities.

The rational for creating the NCDMHR is based, in part, on the need for evidence-based interventions that can be implemented rapidly and widely in the aftermath of disasters. We know very little about how potential consumers perceive their own needs or make decisions about seeking postdisaster care.

We plan to address this gap in knowledge by testing two different intervention approaches. The Brief Internet Psycho-educational Intervention (BIPI) will have the capacity to reach many people soon after disaster. Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Postdisaster Distress (CBT-PD) is designed to reach a smaller number of people with more intensive or persistent needs.