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A Bolt from the Blue: Coping with Disasters & Acute Traumas

Author:	Salli Saari (Translated by Annira Silver)
Published By:	Jessica Kingsley Press (London)
Pages:	249
Price:	£19.99
ISBN:	1 84310 313 3

Reviewed by Chris Skilton.

Ministers will at sometime in their ministry have been caught up in traumatic events that have affected members of their congregation or the wider local community. These may be tragic accidents or the local repercussions of larger scale events like the Asian tsunami or London bombings. This book has been written to help professionals who come into contact with people affected by traumatic experience. It traces carefully the different stages of the way in which people may react in “normal” or disturbing ways, and offers help in responding. The chapter on the responsibility (and the irresponsibility) of the media at such times is helpful as is a short chapter on the way in which children cope with trauma.

The author, Salli Saari, is head of crisis services in Finland and has written a book that is by and large free of jargon and reasonably accessible to the lay person. However, it makes no mention of the contribution that clergy and faith representatives have made and could make on such occasions. While it may be of interest to those who have a particular ministry in this field of work (through chaplaincy in the armed or emergency services, hospitals, transport), I suspect that it is too detailed for most ministers. However, that is not to say that church leaders should not be equipped to minister to people who are victims of trauma, but they would be better trained to understand the particular role that they might be asked to play in such circumstances.