Crisis and Trauma
Crisis Intervention
The most effective crisis intervention generally occurs within 48 hours of the traumatic event. It is often done with a group of survivors, and is usually a one-time intervention. Participants are given the latest information concerning the event they experienced, and are educated as to some of the emotional and physical reactions they may have as a result of the event. They are also provided with resources and contact points that will provide further support.
The group is also provided with emotional/mental health support. This support is dependent on who is participating in the group. For victims, an intervention known as Psychological First Aid is provided. This encourages the participants to talk about the future and how they will cope and recover. If the participants are front line responders (police, fire, emergency personnel), they are encouraged to mentally revisit the event, talk about their different perspectives of the event, and are guided to find healthy ways to process those thoughts through the intervention of Debriefing.
(Duane has provided crisis intervention for the Red Cross, National Organization of Victim Assistance, Capital Area Crisis Response Team, several national employee assistance programs, and many corporations following crisis events.)
Individual Counseling
There are a variety of therapeutic interventions available to assist an individual to process the thoughts, feelings, and physical responses after a traumatic event. A few of these include TIR (Traumatic Incident Reduction), EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), Bilateral Processing Interventions, Gradual Exposure Therapy, and SIT (Stress Inoculation Therapies). A therapist who works with trauma may have training/certification and specialize in one or two of these modalities, or have training in several. No one of these approaches works for everyone, and some clients benefit from a combination of modalities.
An essential part of trauma therapy is that the client trusts the therapist. One way to develop this trust is for the therapist to be available to answer all of the client’s questions about the modality before the session begins. Even better, that the therapist is willing to answer all of the client’s questions before an appointment is made.
(Duane has been trained in and utilizes a variety of trauma interventions including TIR, SIT, and a variety of Bilateral Intervention techniques.)
Retreats
Retreats are a very effective way for survivors of trauma to recognize that their reactions to the event are normal, that they can regain control of their thoughts and feelings about the event, and that they are not alone. A retreat may be one or several days long, and participants are encouraged to remain within that environment for the duration of the retreat. Participants usually have experienced a similar event, and quickly learn through interaction with each other that they are not alone. The retreat is a mix of education about the physical, mental, and emotional affects of trauma with exercises and activities to assist the participants to take control of their reactions. Participants leave a retreat with increased knowledge of themselves, an increased sense of personal control, new coping skills and mechanisms, and new friends who understand their thoughts and feelings, having gone through a similar traumatic event, and shared in the experience of the retreat.
(Duane has facilitated a variety of retreats which have included parents of missing or murdered children, families of missing adults, children who have lost loved ones to homicide, and those grieving the death of a loved one.)
