Superstorm Sandy 2012:
A Psychologist First Responder’s Personal
Account and Lessons Learned About
the Impact on Emotions and Ecology
Judy Kuriansky
Columbia University Teachers College, New York, New York.
Abstract
A treacherous weather event, called Superstorm Sandy, hit the New
York tri-state area in the fall of 2012, destroying homes, livelihoods,
and landscapes, claiming lives and costing billions for recovery. This
essay represents reflections on the author’s personal experience
during the event and its aftermath, from the dual perspective as a
hometown resident and as a professional who has provided psy-
chological first aid after natural disasters worldwide. These obser-
vations, as well as lessons learned and relearned from extensive
experiences as a first responder, center around the impact on the
environment as well as on emotions. The account is presented in the
spirit of sharing with colleagues, students, and various stakeholders
involved in disaster recovery and risk reduction, who are interested
in humanitarian access and aid.
Introduction
T
he psychological aftermath of natural disasters in various
international settings has been documented (Bland et al.,
1996; Neria et al., 2008; Norris, 2005). Given the short lapse
of time since the 2012 storm that hit the New York–New
Jersey area, few such scientific evaluations are yet available. However,
news coverage has quoted experts on the psychological aftermath
(Kuriansky, 2012b; Reinberg, 2012), a paper addresses health effects
(Lane et al. 2013), and experts have pointed out the need for such study
S-30 ECOPSYCHOLOGY 2013
given the nature of this specific climate event (Neria & Shultz, 2012).
Data is currently being analyzed from one telephone survey of 200
residents in an affected New Jersey area to assess the impact of the
event ( J. Boscarino, personal communication, July 1, 2013).
A growing body of research addresses the psychological effects
of disaster relief efforts on first responders (Benedek et al., 2007;
Cetin et al., 2005). While mainstream news stories increasingly
focus on narratives and heroic actions of first responders, only
some personal accounts by professionals about their experiences
during crisis intervention have been published in professional
journals and books, some of which are in diary form and others of
which include lessons learned (Gordon, 2006; Osofsky, 2008;
Ramsey, 2009; Rosser, 2008).
After serving as a mental health volunteer after the 9/11 ter-
rorist attacks in my hometown of New York City—assigned to work
with first responders at Ground Zero and with families at the Fa-
mily Assistance Center—I was moved to share personal as well as
professional perspectives (Kuriansky, 2003). Years later, I did the
same after being in Haiti two days after the earthquake, setting up
a training program of students to help survivors and being ex-
posed, on one hand, to massively overstressed aid workers and
screaming children having limbs amputated with no medication,
but on the other hand, to smiling faces and compassionate helpers
(Kuriansky, 2010). On many other occasions serving in similar
roles at disaster sites both in my country and around the world, I
have documented my psychosocial interventions with care but not
extensive personal disclosure (Kuriansky, 2007, 2012e; Kuriansky
& Jean-Charles, 2012). The recent storm in my hometown moti-
vated me once again to share more personal reflections. Over time,
DOI: 10.1089/eco.2013.0010
 SUPERSTORM SANDY: A PSYCHOLOGIST’S PERSONAL ACCOUNT
I have come to value personal stories of colleagues, about their
disaster response experiences. Such disclosure is reassuring that ‘‘I
am not alone’’—a statement expressed so often by listeners to my
radio call-in advice shows.
My recent experience related to the storm has expanded from a
psychological perspective to include observations about the envi-
ronment, ecology, and even economics. Several events have influ-
enced this perspective, including my role as an NGO representative at
the United Nations, where I have been involved in advocating about
issues such as sustainable development with its three pillars: social,
economic, and environmental (Rodriguez et al., 2002). Additionally,
coincident with a resolution by the UN member states to explore the
measurement of development not just by GDP but by well-being,
I recently spoke on a panel about this topic on the UN Internati-
onal Day of Happiness (http://ngodpiexecom.org/uncategorized/
international-day-of-happiness-20-march). Also recently, my col-
leagues and I edited a book bringing together natural scientists and
psychologists to address healing from natural disasters (Nemeth
et al., 2012a). Such a holistic approach is consistent with emerging
expertise in ecopsychology (Doherty, 2010; Frumkin, 2012; Harvey,
1996; Kahn & Hasbach, 2012; Luo, 2013).
Background
Warnings about a storm about to hit New York City sounded to
many, including myself, like something out of a movie. It can’t
happen here. Of course, no one thought 9/11 would happen here,
either, and it did. Similarly, no one thought the levees would burst
in New Orleans, but they did, escalating the effects of Hurricane
Katrina. By the time Superstorm Sandy was over, in November
2012, it had brought parts of New York City and neighboring New
Jersey to its knees. I noticed with frustration and horror the vast
damage (Fig. 1) from massive flooding and strong winds that
caused extensive electrical blackouts, school closures, hospital
and home evacuations, and homelessness. People missed work
because of gas shortages and city transportation at a standstill
from waterlogged subways and tunnels. Piles of garbage blocked
streets. Downed electrical wires created hazards. Sand washed into
basements and streets, then moved into huge piles, leaving dras-
tically retreated shorelines. Beachfronts and boardwalks dis-
appeared into the ocean. The ecology and psychology of the city
were forever changed.
The human loss was devastating. A man was electrocuted going
into his flooded basement; a young couple was killed by a falling tree
while walking their dog; a young girl was swept out of her home into
the ocean and drowned.
ª MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC.
Fig. 1. Destruction on Staten Island.
Emotional and Philosophical Reactions
Many people, including myself, were depressed about the changes
and angry with Mother Nature. The crisis also made me contempla-
tive about the purpose of life and about the locus of control—one of
my favorite psychological concepts—referring to the degree to which
we, or fate, control our destiny (Kuriansky, 2013). The power of na-
ture evidently looms paramount over humankind; water, the source
of life, suddenly can become the source of destruction. My thoughts
also went to other favorite philosophies: Victor Frankl’s logotherapy,
whereby we create meaning to deal with extreme crisis, and exis-
tentialism, whereby we seek to escape the abyss. My dilemma about
the meaning of life was escalated by a stark contrast between the
suffering Sandy survivors and the recent suicide of a friend’s son who
had what everyone considered ‘‘everything to live for.’’ In the face of
this, I remind myself to keep perspective about what is worth being
upset over.
Stories of loss from my fellow New Yorkers—known for, and proud
of, their toughness—broke my heart and tested my need as a psy-
chologist to ease pain. A bus driver told me, on a nighttime ride to the
devastated areas of Staten Island, that he had saved up for years to
buy six cars to open a limo service, and now all the vehicles were
waterlogged beyond repair. What comfort could I offer him? The
Rogerian psychologist in me could listen with unconditional love but
not bring back his dream.
By the time of this writing, most people not directly affected have
gone back to their lives. But I know, and research proves, that the
ecological changes and emotional pain will last a long time (Nastasi
et al., 2011). There are isolated reminders, such as fundraising appeals
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KURIANSKY
by our mayor broadcasting on city taxicab screens, and occasional
e-mails in my inbox requesting volunteers from coordinators with
whom I am connected. It’s frustrating that time passes and we forget.
Compounded Disaster
In some disasters, both Mother Nature and humans are responsible.
The result can be threefold—nature-induced, human-induced, and
both—as described in chapters by natural scientists and psychologists
in our recent book, Living in an Environmentally Traumatized World:
Healing Ourselves and Our Planet (Nemeth et al., 2012a). The trauma
of Superstorm Sandy was compounded by another act of nature—cold
winter weather that hit a week afterward—and also from fires caused
by human carelessness, which burned down a community. Another
human error—faulty outdated construction—added to the chaos of the
storm (similar to the situation in New Orleans after Hurricane Ka-
trina), whereby the city’s major public hospital had to be evacuated
because of power outages and outdated fuel pumps that disabled
power generators. And in my own neighborhood, a huge construc-
tion crane fell, adding to the havoc.
The Drama of News Coverage in a Tale
of Two Cities
When news broke of the impending storm, like many New Yorkers,
I did not believe it would be bad, as there was so much ‘‘calm before
the storm.’’ When it hit, I watched reporters on TV wading thigh-high
in water, speaking with urgency and drama, making analogies that
escalated my anxiety: ‘‘It’s like Berlin after the bombing of WWII,’’ ‘‘It’s
post-apocalyptic,’’ and ‘‘There are eerie similarities to the Asian tsu-
nami.’’ (where I had done post-disaster recovery). In stark contrast,
gusts and rain outside my midtown window barely matched previous
rainfalls, and my computer flickered only a few times—making me
think this truly was A Tale of Two Cities (the title of a Charles Dickens
novel). Suffering from survivor’s guilt, I wondered how I could be so
unaffected while floods were overtaking the east and west side of my
city and further downtown, as well as coastal parts of the boroughs and
neighboring New Jersey. In New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, I saw
such devastation in the Lower Ninth Ward, while all looked normal on
higher ground in the French Quarter.
Taking Action: Lesson Relearned
Despite critiques that discourage outsiders from coming to a di-
saster site, research increasingly shows that volunteers’ assistance is
invaluable and welcomed by survivors (Myers, 1985; Paton, 1989).
At first, I heeded official advisories for residents not near shoreline
danger zones to stay at home; but after a few hours, the first re-
S-32 ECOPSYCHOLOGY 2013
sponder in me took over, thinking, ‘‘What am I doing sitting in my
house in my own city when I have been active in so many other
faraway places?’’ I know the importance of working through an or-
ganization ‘‘on the ground,’’ but much to my frustration in the im-
mediate aftermath of the storm, it was not clear with whom to
affiliate; shock and chaos in the city had made a coordinated civic
response slow. Not worried about any guidelines, brave private in-
dividuals just pick up and go, even from far away. One family drove
to New York from Vermont with shovels to help dig out homes, and a
group of coworkers road-tripped from Florida in trucks filled with
clothes. Volunteers from local restaurants set up trucks and tables
serving hot food—mostly Italian spaghetti and soup. Religious cen-
ters—churches and synagogues—swung more quickly into action.
By nightfall, I decided to venture into my neighborhood to see how
people were doing. I talked to grocery workers, tourists, police offi-
cers, and firefighters. By morning, determined to do something
useful, I called colleagues to organize psychological first aid efforts;
unsuccessful, I found a concerned neighbor willing to go with me to
the nearby evacuation shelter to help. The people there were only too
willing to talk about their frustration with their situation and ac-
commodations (Fig. 2). The quarters seemed hardly as dire compared
to the over-crowded and ill-equipped Superdome after Hurricane
Katrina or the marked-off areas in school auditoriums I saw in Sri
Lanka after the 2004 Asian tsunami, but I could understand their
upset. The classrooms in a local college were crowded with cots in-
ches from one another, combining men and women and intermixing
people from homeless shelters, travelers whose bus trips were
Fig. 2. Dr. Judy talks to survivors in a shelter.
 SUPERSTORM SANDY: A PSYCHOLOGIST’S PERSONAL ACCOUNT
interrupted, and upscale neighborhood evacuees. C-pack rations
were sent in by the city, and one volunteer had brought in hot chicken
at his own expense. Once back home, I Googled and found various
Web sites organizing volunteers, including from the city public ad-
vocate’s office. The power of technology to mobilize in disasters is
striking; once I signed up, my inbox was flooded with requests from
organizations needing help.
My intention—consistent with the Inter-Agency Standing Com-
mittee guidelines (IASC, 2007) and as I had done many times before—
was not to do therapy but to lend a compassionate ear and heart, offer
a bottle of water, and do whatever was needed (Kuriansky, 2003).
Some people responded to the simple question, ‘‘How are you?’’ by
opening the floodgates of emotion. A woman was furious about a
couple being intimate in their shared room. A young volunteer—an
aspiring actress—assigned to show people where the bathrooms were,
told me how she couldn’t take the pressure. A guard, stretched out on
two chairs to rest, bemoaned the lack of relief for his shift.
The next night, when power was still not restored, I went with a
friend, Paul Sladkus, to the pitch-dark part of the city to talk to
people, as I have done many times and as Paul has often done in
search of good news for his internet broadcast (http://good-
newsplanet.com/sandy-at-night-part-2). Since so much media cov-
erage focused on the trauma, I decided to talk to people from the
perspective of posttraumatic growth, hypothesizing that relation-
ships could benefit from the crisis and recalling the advice I had
written for couples about this after 9/11 (Kuriansky, 2003). Indeed,
couples coping with Sandy told me they spent more time together
since they couldn’t go to work, were more thoughtful (e.g., walking
their spouse home from work), or were more romantic (e.g., spending
intimate time together). Paul and I also cheered up the tired cop
directing traffic in the dark and the tilapia salesman feverishly
serving hungry survivors (the latter an oft-neglected category of first
responders).
The next day, in response to an e-mail from the public advocate’s
office calling for volunteers, I hopped a cab downtown to the com-
munity center. New Yorkers usually don’t talk to cabbies much, but I
was eager to hear my cabbie’s tale about coping (Fig. 3). He was
worried about his children’s many fears—just as psychologists ex-
pect—including fears about whether it would happen again. He
welcomed my reassurance that he was handling it well by letting his
kids sleep in their parents’ bed, cuddling them, and empowering his
oldest daughter to teach her little brother what she had learned in
school about earthquakes.
During this time of crisis, I relearned lessons from previous such
events—not to worry about planning but to just show up and go with
ª MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC.
Fig. 3. Dr. Judy talks with a New York City cab driver about coping.
the flow. At the community center where neighborhood people lined
up to request services and volunteers to get assignments, a friend,
Michelle Dingoor, called out to me. As a student of massage therapy
at the Swedish Institute of Health Sciences, she was ready to help. We
ventured to a neighborhood complex to deliver boxes of water and
city rations to the housebound elderly and disabled residents. One
woman cried to me that her most precious possession—her fish—died
because of the power blackout. Her pain reminded me that everyone’s
loss is important, no matter how trivial it seems to someone else.
Noticing that Manhattan sites were well manned, we decided to go
to a more remote site— Staten Island’s Midland Beach, which I’d
heard on TV was damaged and needed help. We took a cab to the ferry
and stopped at the local bodega to buy items I heard were lacking:
cleaning supplies, toothbrushes and toothpaste, deodorant. From
there we were directed to a bus, and the driver dropped us off where
he thought we could be helpful—a local school. The alley bustled with
people bringing bag loads of items, others loudly announcing the
availability of hot soup, and still others sorting through piles of
donations. People self-sorted into roles—a common dynamic of
neighborhoods organizing in a crisis, providing an interesting so-
ciogram of who jumps in to lead, who follows, and who stays out of it.
Asked to bring water to another center, we ended up at the central
distribution center in a huge open lot, overseen by the city emergency
management. Self-sorting again, my friend gravitated to serving
food, and I started organizing huge heaps of clothes dumped on the
ground, writing labels on paper taped to cones to identify items, such
as coats and blankets, and writing whom they were for, such as men,
women, or children (Fig. 4).
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KURIANSKY
Fig. 4. Dr. Judy sorting items at distribution center.
More Lessons Relearned
As in so many postdisaster situations, I realized once again that
psychologists have a valuable role to play from the outset. Handing
out a warm hat or blanket is an opportunity to show support and an
open invitation to engage. After survivors say a simple thank you,
some spontaneously express deeper feelings. My responses may be
simple, but they are based on a foundation of decades of professional
training and deep understanding.
Others lessons relearned are
. Children especially need comfort. Toys, especially stuffed ani-
mals (Fig. 5), are traditional healing aids postdisaster, providing
‘‘contact comfort’’ (Harlow, 1974); and play has been shown to
be the gold standard in psychological first aid for children
Fig. 5. Dr. Judy talks with little girl choosing toy.
S-34 ECOPSYCHOLOGY 2013
(Baggerly & Exum, 2008; Fearn & Howard, 2012; Shen, 2010).
While a little boy was sorting through books, I sat down with
him to go over his choices. He picked out Star Wars, and I asked
him to show me how he can have ‘‘The Force’’ as a purposeful
way to bolster his strength.
. Hearts heal hearts. Many people want to volunteer but fear
being untrained, like a friend’s sister, who called to ask me how
she could help. An ultrasound technologist at Westchester
Health Associates, Barbara Bena loves people and wanted to
channel her caring. I told her what I always say, ‘‘You don’t
need a PhD degree and 40 years as a psychotherapist; just come
with your love.’’ She gladly came with me to a synagogue in Far
Rockaway, taking assignments to clean out basements, sort an
elderly couples’ precious soaked photos on the lawn, and knock
on doors or tuck information sheets on screen doors to alert
people who might be homebound about services to which they
were entitled.
. Survivors dealing with tremendous helplessness deserve utmost
respect. This is evident when distributing clothing, which
should be seen not as a handout but a shopping spree. As the
‘‘salesperson,’’ I rummaged through the piles to find an item I
thought the person would like, then held it up, asking, ‘‘What do
you think of this one?’’ From there, the conversation can lead in
many directions, at their initiative, about just being cold or
about frustration and sadness. When offering mothers a spe-
cially chosen coat for their child, they often naturally talked
about worries for the little ones.
. Volunteers bond but separate. Helping side by side creates
strong bonds when working together, yet after the crisis passes,
sadly helpers may never see each other again. This happened to
me and the psychologist with whom I worked at Ground Zero
after 9/11 and with whom I went to graduate school—we rarely
saw each other over the years, despite meaning to.
. Volunteering tapers off. By the second week post-Sandy,
helpers went back to work, and volunteer centers begged for
help, especially on weekdays. At Red Hook in Brooklyn, 10 days
post-storm, only 20 people showed up when I had been told
previously there had been about 3,000 volunteers. It’s crucial to
design ways to keep volunteering sustainable.
. Schools play an important role. Schools should routinely
teach about disaster recovery and risk reduction, a subject
for which I have advocated at the United Nations (Kur-
iansky, 2012a). Resources for schools have been developed
in other countries, for example, Let’s Learn to Prevent
Disasters, an educational kit that includes a board game
 SUPERSTORM SANDY: A PSYCHOLOGIST’S PERSONAL ACCOUNT
called Riskland, whereby players learn what they can do to
reduce the impact of disaster (UNISDR, 2004). A friend told
me that children’s fears required teachers to address the
topic. One 9-year-old said, ‘‘I was so frightened. I was
afraid I was going to drown.’’
. Kindness blossoms, but temporarily. After every disaster, people
realize they need each other, become kinder, and offer help.
After Sandy, drivers stopped cursing other cars, pedestrians
willingly shared rides, and shoppers and commuters waited
patiently in long lines. I surprised myself, talking to neighbors
in the elevator whom I hadn’t acknowledged in years of being
in the same building. But now, months later, with things back to
‘‘normal,’’ people sadly once again compete for cabs and ride
elevators anonymously. I miss the kindness and appreciation.
. Communities are a powerful force in recovery. Every post-
disaster experience I have reveals that crisis brings people to-
gether and proves the palliative power of compassion, support,
and love. Connecting with people is also what drives me and
gives me energy, even in the midst of dealing with mass loss.
Community and group support has been shown to be essential
in coping with disaster (Kuriansky, 2012b). In Far Rockaway
one night, my friend Suzen (founder of the New York City Peace
Museum) and I happened upon a community meeting in a
central relief station set up in the playground of the large
community church, St. Francis de Sales, right by the beach. A
self-selected community leader, who had grown up in the
neighborhood, talked about the need to share references to ef-
ficiently get work done and to avoid price gouging by carting
companies, electricians, and other vendors, and he talked about
resources such as door-to-door nurses and business grants—also
made available on information sheets and in a community
newsletter. Some estimates, he explained, could be reduced if
neighbors paired up to use a particular vendor (so mold removal
could cost $2,000 a person instead of $5,000). He recommended
an intriguing idea: starting a locally run foundation for the
community rather than giving to multinational companies. ‘‘We
will rebuild,’’ he rallied the assemblage. ‘‘My daughters are used
to coming here to see their grandparents. This town is my
family. We plan to bring our kids here to the beach and bakery
until we’re senior citizens.’’ But not all that happens in com-
munity gatherings is congenial. The discussion was very heated
at times, with people angry with the electrical company for
delayed power and one man furious that certain streets were
being delineated as the ‘‘community.’’ ‘‘Stop this east-west di-
vide,’’ he said. ‘‘All of us are affected. Don’t exclude anyone.’’
ª MARY ANN LIEBERT, INC.
. Psychologists have to advocate about the important role of
mental health. Inside the huge tent at the community rescue
center (called a ‘‘warming station’’) were computer stations,
signs for where to charge cell phones, tables of games for kids,
long tables of food (bagels, bananas, coffee, orange juice, and
soda), and chairs with signs noting services, such as legal ad-
vice, announcements of grant money available from the Small
Business Alliance, and even massages. A pediatrician at the
community meeting told me about the shock and PTSD he’d
seen in people and wondered, as I did, ‘‘Where is the mental
health?’’ Since he resisted speaking up about it, I did. His ob-
servation was another affirmation of the need for early psy-
chological first aid that is not readily provided.
. Helping helps the helper. Research has shown that volunteers
are helped themselves when aiding others (Surujlal & Dhurup,
2008). I’ve noticed that result in the preliminary research about
the group of students I trained after the Haiti earthquake to
provide simple support to injured people at a local hospital. As
one young man said, ‘‘I feel good about myself when I know I
am doing good for someone else.’’
. Self-care is vital. All trainings for helpers emphasize the im-
portance of self-care to prevent burnout and compassion fa-
tigue. My routine in disaster relief involves living on power
bars, ignoring hundreds of e-mails and texts from the day,
falling into bed, and watching mindless TV movies to relax my
mind. Talking to others who share the experience or close
friends and family whom I know love me helps, though I know
others may prefer not talking. Continuing to do something
helpful actually constitutes self-care for me.
Nature as the Great Equalizer
For several evenings in Far Rockaway, I volunteered at a church in
a hard-hit low-income area. One night, a friend and I drove to the
other end of Rockaway Beach, with more upscale homes and archi-
tecturally designed summer retreats, revealing a stark socioeconomic
contrast. Yet a natural disaster is a major equalizer. Groups of people
carried out now-ruined precious possessions, leaving mounds of
waterlogged possessions and broken furniture lining the streets in
similar sad piles in both neighborhoods. Even though these more-
privileged families spoke wistfully of past happy summers on the
now-washed away sand, their frustration and anger about lack of
power and lost possessions were similar to their distant neighbors’ in
less-privileged circumstances. While one might surmise that these
more upscale people have more resources to recover, their reality
appeared equally frustrating and depressing.
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KURIANSKY
Media Attention to Emotions
Media offers an opportunity to communicate to the public about
coping (Kuriansky, 2005, 2009). Many psychologists immediately posted
advice on internet sites about how to cope with disasters, as I did in an op-
ed posted on FoxNews.com (Kuriansky, 2012b). Television news shows
are increasingly interested in stories about resilience or advice about
coping, as in a WNBC-TV interview I did on a weekend morning. Huf-
fington Post Live, a new internet live service, also immediately grasped
the value of including a psychological perspective, asking me to be a
panelist about ‘‘Sandy Samaritans,’’ including a reporter and a gym
owner who opened her doors to people needing shelter (http://huff.lv/
UaWPVV). Coincidentally, TV talk show host Geraldo Rivera showed up
to host his Fox News show live at the very location in Staten Island where
I was volunteering. Since I have known him for decades, he asked me to
be on air, along with interviews with the city official at the site, a local
politician, and various volunteers and community people. Standing by a
pile of stuffed animals, I felt it was a good opportunity to talk about
children needing contact comfort (more hugging and attention for se-
curity), as well as common emotional reactions and steps to seek support
and self-care. I know that media attention will be paid to certain major
marker anniversary dates of this event (e.g., the 2nd, 5th, 10th, silver,
gold), as for other disasters, but I worry that on certain years the date will
go by with minimal mention when I know many people need ongoing
acknowledgement (Nemeth et al., 2012b). Memorials become less public,
a fact I bemoan and complained about in an op-ed about the lackluster
attention given 9/11 on the 11th anniversary (Kuriansky, 2012d).
Affirmations and Recommendations:
Going Forward
Every postdisaster reminds me, ‘‘People matter more than posses-
sions.’’ Sandy, as do other natural disasters, reminded me of the im-
portance of respect for the environment, the reality of climate change,
and the urgency to do something to preserve the environment. My
commitment is even stronger now to the goals for sustainable devel-
opment—the emerging United Nations’ agenda. The storm is a powerful
reminder of how fragile and precious life is, that all can be lost so
swiftly, and that appreciation and gratitude for blessings must be
practiced. The Sandy experience has reaffirmed my commitment to
disaster recovery, the important role of psychologists, and the interface
between nature and humankind and between psychology and spiri-
tuality and ecology. For being dealt such a drastic hand, people are
angry at nature—a relationship I am committed to help heal.
Much research remains to be done about the impact of the storm; in my
view, this includes covering not only the emotional issues but also eco-
nomic stresses. Survivors’ emotional reactions of frustration, anger, and
S-36 ECOPSYCHOLOGY 2013
depression are not only directed at nature but at service providers for
unrestored power, refused insurance benefits, and unforthcoming fi-
nancial aid necessary for rebuilding. A multidimensional perspective is
consistent with the field of ecopsychology and also with the three pillars
of the UN proposed Sustainable Development Goals. Psychologists have a
valuable contribution to make on the local and global stages in the future.
Acknowledgments
The author appreciates the research assistance of interns, Smith
College students Shuyao Kong, Divya Chand, and Jasmine Poteat,
and Mt. Holyoke students Yang Rui and Maimouna Dieye.
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Address correspondence to:
Judy Kuriansky, PhD
65 West 55th Street Penthouse D
New York, NY 10019
E-mail: DrJudyK@aol.com
Received: February 2, 2013
Accepted: July 16, 2013
 VOL. 5 SUPPLEMENT 1  2013 ECOPSYCHOLOGY S-37