Children, parents and teachers affected by Canterbury's big quake are likely to continue seeking assistance with managing trauma for another four to six weeks, a Dunedin-based specialist in emergency and trauma response says.
Chris Cattaway arrived in Christchurch two days after the quake and has been leading Save the Children's emergency response programme.
He has worked on disaster responses in the flooded areas of Pakistan and Burma as well as earthquake-affected areas in Iran and China.
He said the lack of damage in Christchurch after a quake of that magnitude bore testament to New Zealand's building codes and disaster planning, compared with what he had seen happen after a quake of the same size in developing countries.
After assessing what was needed to help people recover from Canterbury's quake, he found that while people's physical needs were largely met, they still had psychological issues.
He then set up a workshop to help people cope after the quake.
Since Friday, 400 people have attended the workshops, run jointly with the Ministry of Education.
The initial workshops showed people wanted to talk about what happened to them during and after the quake, and wanted to know if the way they were feeling or behaving was normal in the circumstances, Mr Cattaway said.
"There has been a lot of talk of flying in therapists and counsellors, but the vast majority of people don't need that sort of clinical intervention - they just need some reassurance."
In a lot of cases, the behaviour people were asking about would only be a real concern if it carried on for very long periods down the track - for example, some people had asked if it was OK that their children wanted to sleep under doorways.
Demand for the workshops was strong and other groups such as Plunket, single women's and parents' groups had also requested them.
"It's surprising really, how much people have welcomed the opportunity to talk. And people are seeing themselves that their behaviour is a normal reaction in the circumstances."
Save the Children was training more people - all Christchurch professionals - to help run workshops, so more could be held, he said.
Mr Cattaway expected the demand would remain for the next four to six weeks, and the way workshops were run would adapt as people's psychological needs changed.
• People interested in the Christchurch workshops should ring 0800 167 168.
