Psychological Debriefing: Theory, Practice and Evidence

From our regular book review column.

This text is a comprehensive overview of the broad topic of psychological debriefing. Most readers who are trained in traditional psychiatry residency programs will be unfamiliar with much of the background, diversity, and controversies within the psychological debriefing literature. It is clear that the termdebriefing may be applied to a number of different psychological interventions. The text covers the kinds of debriefings that follow various traumatic circumstances, such as war, police emergencies, fire/rescue operations, and natural disasters. The basic elements of psychological debriefings are reviewed, including emotional abreaction, cognitive processing, and social support. The authors reveal the considerable confusion in the literature regarding what constitutes and how to conduct psychological debriefing in children and adolescents.