MY STORY

I am the Co-Director of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute and Blanchard Chair and Professor of Humanitarian and Disaster Leadership at  Wheaton College (IL).

 

I’m also a bit of a social entrepreneur. I founded the Humanitarian Disaster Institute, M.A. in Humanitarian & Disaster Leadership Program at Wheaton College Graduate School,  and Disaster Ministry Conference. I'm lead developer of Spiritual First Aid. Most recently I co-founded The Better Samaritan, Spiritual First Aid Summit, and National COVID-19 Day.

 

My publications have appeared in outlets like The Washington Post, Christianity Today,  and Psychology Today. I’ve also published in some of the top scholarly journals in the field of psychology. My psychology of religion/spirituality and disaster research has been supported by over $6 million in grant funding. My latest books are A Walking Disaster: What Surviving Katrina and Cancer Taught Me About Faith and Resilience, Disaster Ministry Handbook and Spiritually Oriented Psychotherapy for Trauma. I just published my latest book Refugee Mental Health (APA Books).

 

Along the way I’ve been fortunate enough to have some of this work recognized. In 2017 I was given the Higher Goals in Christian Journalism Award (2nd Place) by the Evangelical Press Association. I received the FEMA Community Preparedness Champion Award at the White House in 2016. I was also awarded the 2010 American Psychological Association Division 36 (Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality) Early Career Award. Recently, I've been awarded the 2021 Applied Psychology of Religion/Spirituality Award from Division 36 for my COVID-19 work. 

 

I reside in Wheaton, Illinois, with my wife and three children.