Anxious Experts: Disaster Response and Spiritual Care from 9/11 to the Climate Crisis

Spiritual care has become an essential component of disaster-response toolkit, offering approaches to trauma such as meditation, acupuncture, and trauma therapy. The book "Anxious Experts" chronicles the rise of disaster-related spiritual expertise in the years following 9/11, highlighting the historical tensions between secular health practice and religious and spiritual care. It provides insight into apocalyptic and dystopic beliefs and the consequences of this concept of meaning for our relations to other humans and nonhumans, the climate crisis, and the future. The variety of therapeutic and spiritual practices deployed in the face of disaster will be tested as humanity faces growing threats, but it is not clear whether they will provide the resources required to instill the capacities to face the repercussions of future disasters.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 15 March 2022
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press

In the face of ongoing disasters, spanning from the Coronavirus epidemic and mass incarceration to hurricanes and earthquakes, spiritual care has emerged as a vital component of disaster response. Joshua Moses' book, Anxious Experts, delves into the rise of disaster-related spiritual expertise in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. It explores a range of approaches to trauma, including meditation, acupuncture, trauma therapy, and restorative justice. This expansion of spiritual expertise in response to post-9/11 disasters reflects historical tensions between secular health practices and proponents of religious and spiritual care. The book also offers a lens through which to understand the historical dimensions of disaster-related trauma, its treatment, and the political implications of therapeutic and spiritual practices. By examining the intersection of mental health and spirituality in the context of disaster, we gain valuable insights into apocalyptic and dystopian beliefs prevalent today in the United States and beyond. We explore the role of specific forms of expertise in shaping meaning and the consequences this concept may have on our relationships with other humans and nonhumans, the climate crisis, and ultimately the kind of future we can envision. The array of therapeutic and spiritual practices employed in disaster response will be put to the test as humanity faces mounting threats from the climate crisis and other cascading disasters. However, it remains uncertain whether the knowledge we have assembled will sufficiently equip us to instill the necessary capacities to face the consequences of future disasters.

Weight: 314g
Dimension: 151 x 229 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780812225136