Disaster Management Counselling in Brisbane

Disaster Management Counselling. Helping you to understand and handle the situation and the people inolved. Caring, experienced, qualified counsellor located in Brisbane, QLD.

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Managing Disasters in a Community

Community disasters have been dealt with throughout the nation by a process referred to as Critical Incident Debriefing.

The first 24 hours after an incident are crucial and immediate debriefing counselling is required.

Debriefing in Disaster Management Counselling

Debriefing usually takes place after an unusual or traumatic incident. It is preferably done directly with the person or persons who experienced the event.

Those affected get together with a crisis counselor to talk about the incident. The aim is to reduce the stress placed on the responders by the incident. To aid in this they will

• Discuss the event
• Allow those affected to talk freely about what happened, and to share their thoughts and feelings
• Listen to the feelings of others who were affected

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Coping with Disasters for the Individual

Coping strategies are introduced and discussed. Support and reassurance about safety is critical.

Every individual, experiences things differently and develops different symptoms in response to traumatic events.

Early life co-morbidity - that is, when other traumas have been experienced early in life - can also be a good indicator for further counselling.

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What to Be Aware of during and after Disasters

Physical signs of acute stress include

• Fatigue

• Thirst

• Nausea

• Visual difficulties

• Muscle tremors

• Dizziness

• Twitches

• Profuse sweating

• Chest pain

• Chills

• Difficulty breathing

• Shock symptoms

• Elevated blood pressure

• Fainting

• Rapid heart rate

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Typical emotional and behavioural signs of critical incident stress include

• Anxiety

• Change in activity

• Guilt

• Change in speech pattern

• Grief

• Loss of emotional control

• Panic

• Outbursts

• Fear

• Suspiciousness

• Uncertainty

• Loss or increase in appetite

• Withdrawal

• Alcohol consumption

• Depression

• Antisocial acts

• Irritability

• Pacing

• Anger

• Hyper-alertness

• Apprehension

• Startle reflex