Introduction.
Disaster and violent crime causes severe psychological disturbance with victims experiencing post-traumatic disorder, depressions and anxiety. This calls for systematically comprehensive and integrated intervention techniques.
Critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) is a psychological intervention that can be applied to disaster victims, family members and rescue team. .Strict format with seven steps applied. Introduction phase, team leader introduces CISD process, guidelines are set out based on full attendance, voluntary participation and confidentiality .Fact phase immediate issues are identified with participants describing the incident from their own perspective. Thought phase, involves defusing of thoughts individuals expressing their feelings, emotions and exposure to the event. Reaction phase, participants describe the worst part of the disaster moving from cognitive to emotional feelings. Symptom phase participants consider their emotional, cognitive and behavioral signs of distress and symptoms felt at different times of event. Moods, thoughts, choice of words and perception of victims are evaluated. Education phase, Victims are encouraged to start rebuilding themselves psychologically and physically as support services and resource information are given to survivors .Re entry phase is a wrapping up session where referrals are made for individual follow ups on how help can be obtained.
Violent crime such as criminal assault, rape, torture and abduction and armed robbery are traumatizing causing irrational beliefs, cognitive distortion, guilt and dysfunctional values
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is effective intervention for victims of violent crime. CBT has many approaches e.g. exposure therapy (systematic desensitization), participant modeling and self control desensitization. Exposure therapy is graduated form where the victims return to the place where the violent crime was committed to come into contact with salient contextual cues e.g. time of the day or to come into contact with stimuli having effective association to the crime e.g. sounds. In participant modeling, victims master specific behavioral techniques to modify anxiety response and then coached on how to employ new skills in managing post traumatic stress disorders. Such skills may be interpersonal, anger management and relaxation training to address trauma symptomatology.
The best form of crisis intervention is crisis prevention since emotional impacts of disaster and violent crime cuts deeper than physical injuries and may take longer interventions to be healed.
References.
Enhrenreich, J, Ph.D (2001) COPING WITH DISATER ‘A GUIDEBOOK TO PSYCHOSOCIAL INTERVENTION’ retrieved from http://hss.state.ak.us/dbh/resources/initiatives/dp/Coping%20With%20Disaster.pdf
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ‘Cognitive behavioral therapy’ retrieved from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_behavioral_therapy.
