A recent seminar sponsored by Paul Davis Restoration and Remodeling of Suburban Maryland and Washington, D.C. gave advice to insurance professionals on how to manage the psychological stress of managing claims during times of disaster.

Dr. Raymond Shelton, fellow and director of personal development with the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, served as keynote speaker for the workshop, which was called, "Catastrophe! Managing the Psychological Trauma." The event was held on March 28 in Rockville, Md.

According to Paul Davis, Dr. Shelton's presentation instructed participants how catastrophes can create a powerfully negative psychological response in the policyholder, the claim adjuster, and the catastrophe response team. Dr. Shelton also instructed participants to correctly respond to negative reactions and to help effectively manage the victim of catastrophe, plus improve the claim process. Additionally, the seminar reviewed how a catastrophe response team can prepare for their own stress reactions while on site and in the aftermath of catastrophe response duty.

During the half-day seminar event, Paul Davis said that attendees learned how to define traumatic stress and its effects on the policyholder and catastrophe response staff, provide specific safety techniques to effectively manage traumatic stress in policyholders and catastrophe response staff, and provide stress-management techniques to be utilized during and following incident engagement.

Lauren Nowak, Paul Davis' marketing director, clarified the reasons why they sponsored the seminar for insurance industry professionals. "In our industry and during times of crisis, numerous individuals in the claims and recovery field must arrive on the scene and are expected to stabilize the situation and provide the means to replace or rebuild lost and damaged property," she said. "However, many insurance industry professionals are not equipped to deal with the trauma they experience when working with catastrophe and its victims."

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Paul Davis Helps Adjusters Manage Psychological Trauma

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