Dear CISM Practitioner,

In today's update, we provide several articles. Links are provided to:

• an article written by George S. Everly, Jr., PhD, F.A.P.M., Chairman of the Board Emeritus of ICISF on the role of Pastoral Crisis Intervention in disasters and other crises
• an article by Jeffrey T. Mitchell, PhD, CTS, ICISF President Emeritus, about when Emergency Personnel also suffer losses in a disaster, and
• an article by guest contributor Dennis Potter, LMSW, FAAETS of Kantu Consultants, about taking care of your team after they return from deployment.

Additionally, this message includes the text of a second article written by Dr. Mitchell on "The Dangers of Overused, Inaccurate Terminology."

The information in these articles is both timely and appropriate for those anticipating or considering deployment to the areas impacted by Hurricane Katrina. I urge you to read all four of these articles and to share them with others whom you feel could benefit from the information.

The following article by George S. Everly, Jr., PhD, F.A.P.M., is being distributed with the permission of Chevron Publishing.

The Role of Pastoral Crisis Intervention in Disasters, Terrorism, Violence, and Other Community Crises

Click on the link below for the text of an article by Jeffrey T. Mitchell, PhD, CTS

When Emergency Personnel Have Losses Too

Guest contributor Dennis Potter, LMSW, FAAETS, has provided an article entitled Bringing Your Crisis Team Home After A Disaster: Post Action Staff Support (PASS). This article is distributed with the permission of Kantu Consultants.

The Dangers of Overused, Inaccurate Terminology
Jeffrey T. Mitchell, PhD, CTS
President Emeritus, International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc.

Some terms are overused or used inaccurately so often that they lose their primary meaning. In fact, overused terms can become confusing, misleading or meaningless. One overused and frequently inaccurately used term is "debriefing." For some time now, and especially in the last few weeks since the beginning of the Gulf Coast disaster, the term "debriefing" has been used so frequently and in so many different ways that many of us are unsure what is really being talked about. Everybody seems to be saying that they are "debriefing" this individual or that single victim or that they used a "debriefing" in church or with a huge group of people in a school auditorium. Some employee assistance programs claim to be "debriefing" people when what they are actually doing is providing employees with information alone. Some therapists have even used the term "debriefing" as if it were a synonym for the word "psychotherapy."

Very rarely are people using the term "debriefing" in its true meaning. In other words they are not referring to the Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) but to something else entirely. Yet people immediately jump to the false conclusion that "debriefing" of any kind equals "Critical Incident Stress Debriefing." The term "Critical Incident Stress Debriefing" should only be used when referring to a structured, seven-phase, small group crisis intervention tactic. It is provided by a trained team of crisis interventionists and it includes a mental health professional. Furthermore, the CISD should only be used with groups that are homogeneous and have completed their work at the scene of a traumatic event or their exposure has moved past the acute phases. Finally, a CISD is only provided when a homogeneous group has had about the same level of exposure to a traumatic event.

The terms "Critical Incident Stress Debriefing" or "CISD" should only be used as described in the paragraph above. Any other use of the term "debriefing" (if one is referring to any type of emotional support process) should be abandoned entirely.

Misuse of "debriefing" terminology is confusing, destructive and dangerous. People think they are receiving one type of service when they are actually getting something quite different. It is unfair to the people we serve and it is counterproductive to the entire field of crisis intervention. Thank you for reading my comments.

Further updates will follow as more information is obtained.

Donald Howell, Executive Director
International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, In.
Ellicott City MD 21042-2272
http://www.icisf.org
410/750-9600
Fax: 410/750-9601

KAT-05-06