Psychological debriefing for acute trauma - a welcome demise?

Conlon, L.; Fahy, Thomas

doi:10.1017/s0790966700006303

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Articles and editorials appeared with titles such as 'Psychological debriefi ng is a waste of time' (Wessely & Deahl, 2003), 'The current status of psychological debriefing: It may do more harm than good' (Kenardy, 2000) and 'Psychological debriefi ng for acute trauma-a welcome demise?' (Conlon & Fahy, 2001). The Oxford Textbook of Psychotherapy says, 'it is now clear that single-session debriefi ng immediately after exposure to a traumatic event is ineffective' (Parry, Roth, & Kerr, 2007, p. 514).…”

Section: For Individuals Who Have Experienced a Traumatic Event Do Nmentioning

confidence: 99%

To debrief or not to debrief our heroes: that is the question

Hawker¹,

Durkin

Hawker³

2010

Clin Psychology and Psychoth

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Psychological debriefing was developed in the 1980s as an approach for use with people whose work exposes them to stressful incidents. It aims to help them to process the thoughts and emotions arising from their work. Subsequently, several randomized controlled trials tested truncated forms of debriefing in a different population: primary victims of unexpected trauma. These trials, and particularly two in which debriefing appeared to be harmful, led two major reviews to warn practitioners not to offer debriefing. Consequently, many organizations have stopped providing debriefing to employees who face trauma in their routine work. This paper argues that there are at least three reasons for the apparent failure of 'debriefing' in the two studies that reported adverse effects. First, the 'debriefing' did not follow protocol in terms of timing, length, and training and independence of the debriefer. Second, the patients who were 'debriefed' reported more severe initial symptoms than those who were not. Third, 'debriefing' was used with individuals for whom it was not originally intended. Psychological debriefing is intended to be used with groups of people who have been briefed together before going on to work together in stressful situations. Such groups have reported that they find psychological debriefing helpful, and research is emerging indicating that appropriate debriefing may indeed benefit these groups. We call for reviewers to recognize the limitations of debriefing research and not to overgeneralize their conclusions.

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Section: For Individuals Who Have Experienced a Traumatic Event Do Nmentioning

confidence: 99%

To debrief or not to debrief our heroes: that is the question

Hawker¹,

Durkin

Hawker³

2010

Clin Psychology and Psychoth

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“…Seventy one per cent (15) of respondents reported that their cases had received media publicity: of these 53% (8) found this invasive and 47% (7) thought the media portrayal of events unrepresentative.…”

Section: Demographics and Experiencementioning

confidence: 99%

Accidents don’t happen any more: junior doctors’ experience of fatal accident inquiries in Scotland

McCULLOCH

Sykes²,

Haut³

2005

Postgraduate Medical Journal

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Objective To determine the experience of junior doctors cited as witnesses at fatal accident inquiries (FAIs). Design Retrospective questionnaire study. Setting and subjects 40 junior doctors who had been involved in FAIs from January 1998 to August 2002 were identified by the Medical Protection Society and Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland: 21 completed questionnaires were returned, a response rate of 52.5%. Results The process and objectives of FAIs were poorly understood. Few participants were proactive in contacting their defence union. There was a perceived lack of both formal and informal supports with respondents describing a “blame culture” within the medical profession. The experience of the FAI was generally considered stressful with respondents describing possible improvements relating to support, information, training, and the FAI procedure. Conclusions Junior medical staff are poorly informed in this medicolegal area. There is a need for the development of mechanisms both to support junior doctors and to ensure that adverse incidents are dealt with using modern risk management techniques to minimise the risk of recurrence.

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“…Participants might not be so grateful if they knew they were being exposed to a treatment that evidence suggests will at best do no good and at worst increase their risk of developing PTSD. 4 The 'welcome demise' of debriefing referred to by Conlon and Fahy 5 has not yet come about. One of the authors (DW) who spent an hour in the High Court in cross examination defending why it was that his Trauma Programme did not include debriefing, wishes it would.…”

Section: Edited By C Thomicroft C Szmukler Oxford University Press mentioning

confidence: 99%