Abstract
The purpose of this study was to describe how fifty Taiwanese female volunteers from five social welfare institutions coped with the 1999 earthquake in central Taiwan. A qualitative method utilized in-depth interviews and transcript analysis to reach the following conclusions: Participants viewed the earthquake as the greatest crisis and a turning point in their lives; most coped through a variety of adaptive and palliative strategies and recognized the positive effects of volunteer training and work, as well as the social support from the volunteer group, which extended their scope of life and empowered them to deal with difficulties. Implications for counseling research, clinical practice, and training were delineated.