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While most people who participate in psychological debriefing say it was helpful, controlled studies showed little or no effect on the onset of PTSD. According to an upcoming study in Psychological Science in the Public Interest, a journal of the American Psychological Society, studies point out that individuals who receive debriefing do no better than those who do not receive debriefing.
Debriefing is one of the most widely used interventions in individuals diagnosed with PTSD. This therapeutic process attempts to prevent symptoms by having trauma survivors share memories or relive the experience. This new study examined the current body of research to evaluate the efficacy of psychological debriefing. The found that there is "no convincing evidence that debriefing reduces the incidence of PTSD, and some controlled studies suggest that it may impede natural recovery from trauma."
This is not the first study that has raised concerns about the actual impact this and similar methods. A recent article in the Journal Focus of the American Psychiatric Association looked at debriefing for traffic accident victims and concluded that "psychological debriefing is ineffective and has adverse long-term effects. It is not an appropriate treatment for trauma victims."
The National Center for PTSD points out that it is the most widely advocated treatment for routine use following major traumatic events. Yet they also clearly describe that "identified studies vary greatly in their quality, but, overall, the quality of the studies, including the randomized controlled trials, is poor. The studies provide little evidence that early psychological debriefing prevents psychopathology following trauma but confirm that it is well received overall by participants."
Clearly more controlled studies need to be done before this intervention should be "widely advocated."
Here is a detailed description of psychological debriefing from the National Center for PTSD.
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