TRAUMA
Counselling Or Debriefing
Counselling
ounselling takes a variety of forms but generally speaking the content is not structured, directive and the agenda is not predetermined in advance of the meeting. Furthermore, counselling is rarely one-off but more often takes place over several sessions spread over months or even years.
Debriefing
Debriefing offers education to people about the effects of trauma It is a structured directive intervention in which the agenda is predetermined by the professional in advance. It aims to normalise reactions, educate about coping skills and offer guidance on warning signs.
The final extent of any traumatic event may never be known or realistically estimated in terms of loss,bereavement, mourning and grief. In the aftermath of any critical incident, psychological reactions are quite common and are quite predictable. Critical Incident Stress Debriefing or CISD and the management of traumatic reactions by survivors can be a valuable tool following a life-threatening event.
Clinically, traumatic events and their impact on individuals are fairly predictable. When a person has been “exposed” to a critical incident, either briefly or long-term, this exposure can have a considerable impact on their global functioning.