Welcome to the Center for Resilience & Wellness. This document and attachments constitute a contract between us (the “AGREEMENT”) and you should read it carefully and raise any questions and concerns that you have before you sign it.  The charge for a Critical Incident Stress Debriefing will be billed to the referring agency.

Critical Incident Stress Debriefing vs. Psychotherapy

A Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) is a specialized counseling/educational session utilized with First Responders who have experienced an unusual, abnormal, or potentially traumatic job-related event. Typically, law enforcement officers are most often referred for the CISD service after discharging their firearm in the performance of their duties. However, any event viewed as possibly traumatic by a supervisor or the affected officer may warrant referral or voluntary utilization of the CISD program.

The majority of first responders responding to abnormal or traumatic events only require 1-2 sessions to resolve or deal with their emotional reactions. For these officers, the CISD is more of an educational and preventative session vs. an in-depth therapeutic intervention.

Crisis intervention is not psychotherapy, counseling, or a psychological assessment. Crisis intervention relies on screening and not psychological assessment. Crisis intervention is also time limited – usually days to weeks, not months to years. Screening relies more on observation, brief interviews, little or no testing, and a recent and long-term history. Crisis intervention is primarily stabilization and referral. Psychotherapy and counseling focus on treatment of symptoms over a longer period of time. The time frame and goals of psychotherapy and crisis intervention are different. The relationships that evolve in crisis intervention are not the same as the therapeutic relationship in psychotherapy.

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is a legal protection and assurance of your right to privacy to the fullest extent allowable under State statutes. Psychotherapy, counseling, assessment, and crisis intervention provided by licensed professionals are confidential. This means that the individual has legal rights and effective steps they can take to keep records and the treatment relationship private. The CISD program is confidential in nature. However, confidentiality is not guaranteed in cases of danger to self or others, or situations in which children or the elderly are endangered (instances of abuse or neglect). Referring agencies are only provided with a letter confirming the individual’s attendance of the Critical Incident Stress Debriefing and readiness to return to work.

It is the policy of The Center for Resilience & Wellness to complete a CISD only if you provide full consent. During a crisis, we will obtain consultation as necessary to ensure that a potential conflict of interest is acceptable you, within reasonable risk, and the potential harm is minimal. We will also ensure that our involvement is necessary, time-limited, and in your greater interest. Additionally, we will help you find alternative services when available and appropriate including follow-up care for psychotherapy, counseling and assessment.