The Family Assistance Education & Research Foundation (FAERF) has been at the forefront of the evolution of emergency management, combining the head-heart approach for a fully integrated response to survivors of traumatic loss. Practicing compassion consciousness in the workplace involves caring for people first, without exception.
Written by: Carolyn V. Coarsey, Ph.D.
March 2026
This month’s article highlights the critical role Care Team members and other volunteers play in instilling hope in survivors during tragic times in their lives. Hope that life will someday be worth living again is inspired by the actions of selfless volunteers who leave the comfort and safety of their own homes to help those who find themselves helpless and unable to care for themselves.
Following are excerpts from an interview with two survivors of recent floods in Australia. Reg and Usha lost their home, furniture and personal belongings in the flood of March 2021. They rebuilt their home, and redecorated, only to lose everything they owned in a second flood of May 2025. They agreed to share their story as part of a training program we are developing for the volunteer responders for The St Vincent de Paul Society.
I would just like to say, “Thank you for volunteering. Having gone through two disasters, we understand how important the role of a volunteer is, and you make a huge difference to our lives, especially when you are caught in a disaster, and you’re faced with just not knowing all this emotional trauma, plus loss of everything, when somebody walks into your house and asks, what can I do? How can I help you… without seeking any kind of remuneration, it’s the most wonderful thing. So, thank you for being a volunteer.” Usha
The major thing for us was the enormous help from the charitable groups, particularly the rural fire service. These groups were volunteers, none was paid for and they included from areas as much as 40 minutes from where we lived, and others that came from many more miles away. We had the SES emergency services and wonderful groups such as The St Vincent de Paul Society, Rotary, Lions Club, Anglicare, The Salvation Army and many others, including individuals who just came on their own to help. Reg
The Role of Gratitude in Inspiring Hope
For the past two decades “gratitude” has been scientifically studied as a major factor contributing to mental and emotional health. Once the word was used to describe good feelings associated with help or support offered to another, however today studies are showing how gratitude reduces depression in some cases where medication and counseling have not been effective. More recent studies correlate feelings of gratitude with production of the healthy hormones of dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin.
Interviews with volunteers and Care Team members provide numerous examples of the good feelings they experience in working with complete strangers. It is not unusual for team members to volunteer for these roles as often as possible, due to the good feelings they experience on assignment.
A Gratitude Practice
In an article on gratitude published in the September/October 2025 issue of Spirituality & Health Rabbi Rami Shapiro discussed “Naikan”, a Japanese practice developed in the 1940’s. Naikan translated, means, “inner seeing.” It was brought to the West by David Reynolds, Ph.D. The practice involves setting aside time each evening to reflect on the past 24 hours and answer three questions:
What did others do for me today?
What did I do for others today?
What trouble did I cause others today?
According to Rabbi Shapiro, the practice is rigged—we will always come up short. The universe is structured to offer more than we can give back. This goal is not to make us feel bad, but to help us realize our interconnectedness and experience gratitude. One of the advantages of this type of daily practice is that it reminds us that we need not be on assignment to look for both giving and receiving the positive effects of gratitude. And more importantly, it keeps us mindful of any acts of kindness we might perform to help another and to avoid any unintentional harms we might cause.
Gratitude and Transcendence
Like many survivors in the Foundation’s case study research, the flood survivors, Usha and Reg were able to look back on what the losses from the flood had taught them, and their gratitude for lessons learned.
In hindsight, the material losses (books, music, photographs) were not nearly as meaningful as the value I placed on them, and I have had a reversal now of my value systems. I’m much more basic. I don’t require those things around me anymore. My family has become much more of a focus for me, and my living circumstances are directed purely towards what will benefit my wife and my children because now it is their turn. There would have been a degree of selfishness that remained with me had there not been the floods, I still would have concentrated on the value of all those books and music that I had. Now I see life in a somewhat different light.
Usha put it this way…
I think a lot of us who go through disasters think through what I could have saved, should have done, and what I would do next time. But it is past it’s gone, and all we can do is to create a new life and enjoy that life so that is one thing. A second thing is the kindness that was offered us. I hope I can offer that kindness to other people when they need it. These are my two take aways.
In closing, at the Foundation, we express our gratitude to The St Vincent de Paul Society for allowing us to learn from their leadership, responders, as well as survivors—and especially for allowing us to share Reg and Usha’s experiences with all of our followers. As compassion consciousness continues to evolve in how we respond to everyone experiencing tragic losses, it is a privilege to share with others all we are learning.