I have long wondered about the effectiveness of trauma debriefing in schools and whether it may not cause more harm than good. ScienceDaily may have the answer:
Recent systematic reviews indicate that psychological debriefing of adults does not prevent post-traumatic stress disorder and it may even increase the risk of this disorder. While there is little research on the effectiveness and safety of these interventions in schools, "the evidence clearly points to the ineffectiveness of these interventions in preventing post-traumatic stress disorder or any other psychiatric disorder in adults. (They) urge that psychological debriefing not be performed after traumatic incidents in schools, and that more research is needed to assess psychological and mental health interventions prior to implementation in schools.It has become the custom in South Africa that after traumatic events trauma debrievers from different disciplines and presumably different competencies descend on schools en masse. I'm not sure that they do any good, or may even cause harm.
This is only true to some extent. Research indicates that mass-produced forms of debriefing (i.e. everyone needs to be debriefed exactly the same) are not beneficial and that people react differently to different forms of debriefing. I'm also aware that some of the articles indicating debriefing to cause more harm had questionable methodology. BUT - overall I agree that not everyone will benefit from debriefing and that therapists need to assess everyone individually...and at least have f/up's after debriefing sessions.
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