Counseling Guidelines
Sep 14, 2001 | 7:45 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 1999
Location: new york, ny, usa
Posts: 69
Counseling Guidelines
These are some guidelines developed for professional human service counselors but I they are just as valid for anyone else who needs/wants to help out people in crisis. The tips for helping kids are particularly useful.
This work comes mostly from Dr. Robert Abramovitz, chief psychiatrist for the Jewish Board of Family & Children's Services in New York.
FOCUS FOR CRISIS COUNSELING (FOR JBFCS STAFF)
Over the next few days we may be called upon to do both individual and
group crisis management work, please be advised that "debriefing
techniques" are being debated as to whether they are useful, consequently
rather than having relying on having people talk primarily about what they
saw or experienced, we want to:
Focus on safety and stability issues
Stay with the "here and now"
Ascertain and reinforce pre-existing good coping skills or offer
possibilities for how to cope in a question focused manner, i.e. "what if
you tried ..?" "how about .?"
Teach self soothing techniques to lessen states of arousal-- deep
breathing, active visualization, progressive muscle relation techniques ( I
can fax brief instructions if you need them.
Promote self care- i.e. adequate rest, food and exercise, avoidance of
alcohol and drugs to calm arousal or poor sleep.
Normalize reactions "anyone experiencing such an event would be upset"
It's not a shameful sign of personal weakness to be distressed.
Help people decide what cues might serve as "traumatic reminders", so
they can anticipate events or stimuli that might re-trigger their reaction
all over again.
These events will trigger old traumas, apparently this has been quite
prominent for anyone who was in Vietnam and probably will be for those with
family members in Israel or are Holocaust survivors.
Clearly this is not a complete list but should serve to structure our
responses, however if people "just need to tell their story" validating
that need is important.
PSYCHOLOGICAL FIRST AID ( FROM JBFCS)
By now everyone knows of the horrible series of events that happened in New York and Washington. We know this is a moment of great uncertainty and tension. If you learn about any staff members or members of their family that either witnessed the events or were directly impacted by being at the scene of the tragedy, we would like to share some information on how to provide support for them over the next few days. This kind of support is known as psychological first aid and will be described below.
When events of this magnitude occur a person's response goes in one of two
directions: they experience either a great deal of distress and arousal, or extensive denial and numbing. Some people fluctuate between those two extremes, and don't understand what's happening to them. Those people who are experiencing the arousal and distress will often show physical signs. This reaction is normal and happens to people who don't have any preexisting psychological difficulties. People usually need a mixture of supportive help, nonjudgmental general conversation, and attention to their immediate signs of physical and psychological distress. Below is a series of things that anyone can do to become a source of mutual support.
Take an inventory of your own reactions and find a way to be sure that you are calm and able to focus on other people. If you are not it is understandable.
Ask people how they are doing and what would be most immediately helpful to them.
Help people set useful limits in gathering information about the tragedy. The goal is to get information but not get overly aroused and stuck in the repetitive details of the tragedy. People can be re-traumatized by excessively over-viewing the events. If you notice someone getting progressively more upset by continuous attention to the news try to help them recognize that they need to limit the amount of their exposure, and try to help them shift their focus to calming themselves down.
Ask people to describe their immediate physical reactions, such as rapid breathing or racing heartbeat, this can be a useful way of helping people to start to talk about the impact of the events upon them.
Intervention should be focused on helping to mobilize the person's preexisting coping resources (i.e. talking with them about the things that have helped them to calm down in other situations of great distress), and reassuring them that the current arousal and distress will be time limited.
People need to anticipate that over the next few days they may have difficulty sleeping, nightmares, stomach aches, or find themselves forgetful or inattentive. This is the usual way that the mind and body
tries to integrate overwhelming, irreconcilable information. Good self-care is paramount, such as practicing calming methods, i.e. deep breathing, meditation, etc., making sure to eat regularly, not drinking alcohol, and getting regular exercise.
People need to know that they will not be functioning at their usual levels but it will be helpful to try to maintain as much continuity and normality as is realistically possible.
Parents should expect that their children will be seeking very close proximity to them. Although this may seem like clinginess or reverting to younger-type behavior, it should be allowed. This will include needing more reassurance before falling asleep and being very concerned about the whereabouts of their parents. Specific information and availability is most important. Facts should be given to children on an age appropriate
basis. While the impulse to offer blanket reassurance to children is understandable parents should first attempt to find the nature of their children's worries and fears before trying to reassure them.
As you interact with people who have been directly exposed, please pay attention to whether or not you are picking up indications of shame, blame,or helplessness, as these are indications of more complicated reactions.
____________
CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND DOCUMENT.
-- Resources for Talking with Children About the Tragedy
In light of yesterday's sad events, we thought we would provide you with some resources for talking with children about the tragedy. These are general resources
that can be used by parents, teachers, and
other caregivers to help children through these difficult days.
The following websites have useful information:
-- The Parent Center: www.parentcenter.com/general/34754.html
-- American Academy of Pediatrics:
www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/disastercomm.htm
-- American Psychological Association:
http://helping.apa.org/therapy/traum....html#children
-- American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry:
http://www.aacap.org/
Some general advice from the experts includes:
1. Continuously reassure your children that you will help to keep them safe.
2. Turn off the TV. Overexposure to the media can be traumatizing. If your older children are watching the news, be sure to watch with them.
3. Be aware that your child's age will affect his or her response. Adolescents in particular may be hard hit by these kinds of events. Obtaining counseling for a child or adolescent soon after a disaster may reduce long-term effects.
4. Calmly express your emotions--remember that a composed demeanor will provide a greater sense of security for your child.
5. Give your children extra time and attention and plan to spend more time with your children in the following months.
6. Let your children ask questions, talk about what happened, and express their feelings.
7. Play with children who can't talk yet to help them work out their fears and respond to the atmosphere around them.
8. Keep regular schedules for activities such as eating, playing and going to bed to help restore a sense of security and
normality.
9. Consider how you and your child can help. Children are better able to regain their sense of power and security if they feel
they can help in some way.
For more information on helping victims of the U.S. attacks,
visit: http://helping.org/promos/cs_wtc.adp
The United Way of New York and the New York Community Trust have established a fund to help the victims of the attacks and their families.
The September Eleventh Fund will provide immediate support to established
emergency assistance agencies. Anyone wishing to contribute may send their
donations in care of, United Way, 2 Park Ave, New York, NY, 10016 or call
212-251-4035
This work comes mostly from Dr. Robert Abramovitz, chief psychiatrist for the Jewish Board of Family & Children's Services in New York.
FOCUS FOR CRISIS COUNSELING (FOR JBFCS STAFF)
Over the next few days we may be called upon to do both individual and
group crisis management work, please be advised that "debriefing
techniques" are being debated as to whether they are useful, consequently
rather than having relying on having people talk primarily about what they
saw or experienced, we want to:
Focus on safety and stability issues
Stay with the "here and now"
Ascertain and reinforce pre-existing good coping skills or offer
possibilities for how to cope in a question focused manner, i.e. "what if
you tried ..?" "how about .?"
Teach self soothing techniques to lessen states of arousal-- deep
breathing, active visualization, progressive muscle relation techniques ( I
can fax brief instructions if you need them.
Promote self care- i.e. adequate rest, food and exercise, avoidance of
alcohol and drugs to calm arousal or poor sleep.
Normalize reactions "anyone experiencing such an event would be upset"
It's not a shameful sign of personal weakness to be distressed.
Help people decide what cues might serve as "traumatic reminders", so
they can anticipate events or stimuli that might re-trigger their reaction
all over again.
These events will trigger old traumas, apparently this has been quite
prominent for anyone who was in Vietnam and probably will be for those with
family members in Israel or are Holocaust survivors.
Clearly this is not a complete list but should serve to structure our
responses, however if people "just need to tell their story" validating
that need is important.
PSYCHOLOGICAL FIRST AID ( FROM JBFCS)
By now everyone knows of the horrible series of events that happened in New York and Washington. We know this is a moment of great uncertainty and tension. If you learn about any staff members or members of their family that either witnessed the events or were directly impacted by being at the scene of the tragedy, we would like to share some information on how to provide support for them over the next few days. This kind of support is known as psychological first aid and will be described below.
When events of this magnitude occur a person's response goes in one of two
directions: they experience either a great deal of distress and arousal, or extensive denial and numbing. Some people fluctuate between those two extremes, and don't understand what's happening to them. Those people who are experiencing the arousal and distress will often show physical signs. This reaction is normal and happens to people who don't have any preexisting psychological difficulties. People usually need a mixture of supportive help, nonjudgmental general conversation, and attention to their immediate signs of physical and psychological distress. Below is a series of things that anyone can do to become a source of mutual support.
Take an inventory of your own reactions and find a way to be sure that you are calm and able to focus on other people. If you are not it is understandable.
Ask people how they are doing and what would be most immediately helpful to them.
Help people set useful limits in gathering information about the tragedy. The goal is to get information but not get overly aroused and stuck in the repetitive details of the tragedy. People can be re-traumatized by excessively over-viewing the events. If you notice someone getting progressively more upset by continuous attention to the news try to help them recognize that they need to limit the amount of their exposure, and try to help them shift their focus to calming themselves down.
Ask people to describe their immediate physical reactions, such as rapid breathing or racing heartbeat, this can be a useful way of helping people to start to talk about the impact of the events upon them.
Intervention should be focused on helping to mobilize the person's preexisting coping resources (i.e. talking with them about the things that have helped them to calm down in other situations of great distress), and reassuring them that the current arousal and distress will be time limited.
People need to anticipate that over the next few days they may have difficulty sleeping, nightmares, stomach aches, or find themselves forgetful or inattentive. This is the usual way that the mind and body
tries to integrate overwhelming, irreconcilable information. Good self-care is paramount, such as practicing calming methods, i.e. deep breathing, meditation, etc., making sure to eat regularly, not drinking alcohol, and getting regular exercise.
People need to know that they will not be functioning at their usual levels but it will be helpful to try to maintain as much continuity and normality as is realistically possible.
Parents should expect that their children will be seeking very close proximity to them. Although this may seem like clinginess or reverting to younger-type behavior, it should be allowed. This will include needing more reassurance before falling asleep and being very concerned about the whereabouts of their parents. Specific information and availability is most important. Facts should be given to children on an age appropriate
basis. While the impulse to offer blanket reassurance to children is understandable parents should first attempt to find the nature of their children's worries and fears before trying to reassure them.
As you interact with people who have been directly exposed, please pay attention to whether or not you are picking up indications of shame, blame,or helplessness, as these are indications of more complicated reactions.
____________
CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND DOCUMENT.
-- Resources for Talking with Children About the Tragedy
In light of yesterday's sad events, we thought we would provide you with some resources for talking with children about the tragedy. These are general resources
that can be used by parents, teachers, and
other caregivers to help children through these difficult days.
The following websites have useful information:
-- The Parent Center: www.parentcenter.com/general/34754.html
-- American Academy of Pediatrics:
www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/disastercomm.htm
-- American Psychological Association:
http://helping.apa.org/therapy/traum....html#children
-- American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry:
http://www.aacap.org/
Some general advice from the experts includes:
1. Continuously reassure your children that you will help to keep them safe.
2. Turn off the TV. Overexposure to the media can be traumatizing. If your older children are watching the news, be sure to watch with them.
3. Be aware that your child's age will affect his or her response. Adolescents in particular may be hard hit by these kinds of events. Obtaining counseling for a child or adolescent soon after a disaster may reduce long-term effects.
4. Calmly express your emotions--remember that a composed demeanor will provide a greater sense of security for your child.
5. Give your children extra time and attention and plan to spend more time with your children in the following months.
6. Let your children ask questions, talk about what happened, and express their feelings.
7. Play with children who can't talk yet to help them work out their fears and respond to the atmosphere around them.
8. Keep regular schedules for activities such as eating, playing and going to bed to help restore a sense of security and
normality.
9. Consider how you and your child can help. Children are better able to regain their sense of power and security if they feel
they can help in some way.
For more information on helping victims of the U.S. attacks,
visit: http://helping.org/promos/cs_wtc.adp
The United Way of New York and the New York Community Trust have established a fund to help the victims of the attacks and their families.
The September Eleventh Fund will provide immediate support to established
emergency assistance agencies. Anyone wishing to contribute may send their
donations in care of, United Way, 2 Park Ave, New York, NY, 10016 or call
212-251-4035
