CISD Process

Understanding the process of the group will help the team stay focused and guide the group to completion.  The CISD group is not one big venting forum although there can be some venting as part of the process,  nor is it a process of therapy, although much can be therapeutic to the organization and individuals.  The skill set CISD team members use are often skills and techniques of a therapist. But it is not therapy.

The process is logical, structured, time-limited and purposeful. It consists of seven components:

1. Introduction
2. Fact
3. Thought
4. Reaction
5. Impact*
6. Teaching
7. Re-entry

Going through these seven components requires the individual to use different parts of their abilities to process information. It first allows support for the individual's defense structure by using a non-threatening cognitive approach. Each step is designed to gradually move to an emotional processing system and allow the emotional reactions to surface safely and in a supportive environment. At this stage, there is increased receptivity (and vulnerability) where teaching and normalizing can be most effective and long lasting.  Soon the defense structure reassembles, but with correct information and greater preparation to exit the debriefing and re-enter their roles and life.

COGNITIVE
Introduction				Re-Entry
		Fact		Teaching
	Thought		Transitional phases		Impact
			Reaction
EMOTIONAL

By integrating PFA, Impact* has replaced the term "Symtoms".