What types of things are done?
During “normal” times students, faculty, and staff learn about the negative effects of routine stress and how to promote healthier lifestyles/stress management techniques in our community.

When tragedy or trauma strikes the campus the SMART provides debriefings and defusings for those impacted by the event.  The SMART works with intact groups (residence hall floors, athletic teams, first responders, residence life staff, faculty, classes, etc.) to help them recover from the tragedy using principles established by the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation www.icisf.org

Debriefings and Defusings are typically structured group discussions focused on the direct effects of the traumatic event.

Why do we need this?
Many times after a tragic event (suicide, accidental death, natural disaster, homicide, etc.) the attention is focused on direct family members and close friends, with no attention paid to those also affected by the event.  This may be people who found the deceased, witnessed the death, or were somehow involved.  In addition there may be those traumatized who knew the victim peripherally or somehow played a role in the person’s life and are nonetheless traumatized.  Most of these people will not avail themselves of traditional counseling nor should they.

Critical Incident Stress Management, first pioneered by Jeffrey Mitchell, PhD is a protocol designed to help reduce the traumatic effects of stress in people who were involved in the trauma or knew the deceased but are not family members.  Only those needing additional, more personalized services, should seek out personal counseling but for most folks the CISM protocols and visits should reduce the negative effects enough to continue without much impairment.

CISM has been found to be effective in reducing the negative effects of trauma and is much more focused on the here and now consequences of the traumatic event with an expectation that normal functioning can and should resume.  This can be very different than “Grief Counseling” which is more long-term and focused on helping one deal with the emotional connection that is lost with the loss of a loved one.  Some participants may find both types of services are helpful whereas many will be clearly helped by only one or the other.

Who should I contact for more information?
At St. Norbert College contact Health and Wellness Services, 403-3266. Nationally  the ICISF or International Critical Incident Stress Foundation is the place to find out more. www.icisf.org