Supportive Team Interventions

Guidelines for Supportive Team Interventions in Remote Areas

Target Group:

Remote work team, including community members involved with the response to the trauma e.g. SES, police.

Aim:

To mitigate the impact of the event; to normalise reactions; to maximise potential for recovery; to promote positive coping strategies and group cohesion; to educate as to the likely effects of trauma; and when and where to seek specialised assistance.

Facilitators:

Mental health practitioner and/or managers.

If the entire team is distressed a group intervention may be required. Such interventions should be provided on site in the remote community and include the following elements:

  • acknowledge the impact of the event on the team and the community;
  • normalise reactions, including grief reactions;
  • encourage positive stress management strategies;
  • highlight the need for tolerance and support for each other;
  • identify sources of professional support if required;
  • include provision of informational support, e.g. pamphlets, which contain information about normal reactions, and document sources of further assistance and support.

Supportive team interventions should not encourage those directly exposed to the traumatic event to share graphic details of this with team members. This should only occur during one-on-one debriefing / psychological support interventions with mental health practitioners (where details will remain confidential).

Individual debriefing / psychological support interventions by mental health practitioners should be offered as a follow-up to the team intervention. Attendance should not be compulsory.

If Indigenous practitioners or community members are involved then an indigenous debriefer should participate in the response.