Preventing Secondary Traumatisation Through Low Impact Debriefing
Do you operate in a workplace where it is common for workers to share the gory or horrifying details of their day?
Have you ever walked away from a meeting that felt more traumatising than necessary or helpful?
In contexts where workers are used to experiencing traumatic content, it is common for people to reflect that they have become desensitised and become less aware of the impact traumatic content has on others. Workplaces can normalise exposure to traumatic content; becoming numb to the risk this culminative unnecessary trauma exposure has to others.
Low Impact Debriefing or LID (also known as Low Impact Processing or Low Impact Disclosure) is a trauma-informed technique for sharing and processing the difficult stories and images that we see and hear about through our work as helping professionals. (TEND Academy, 2020).
By removing unnecessary details of traumatic events, LID reduces cumulative exposure to traumatic information whilst maintaining processes for peer support and connection.
Informal debriefing is different to a mandatory or group debriefing - informal debriefing is common place and often occurs casually in the workplace. These are spontaneous conversations that often occur during lunch time, or at the end of the day in a colleagues office. It is common for workers exposed to trauma, or processing chronic workplace stress, to need to debrief sooner than their next scheduled supervision.
Informal debriefs can become harmful when the listener isn’t given the appropriate choice or warning and feels compelled to hear about graphic or traumatic content. Sometimes we can refer to this as ‘trauma dumping.’
LID offers an alternative process that protects others from secondary traumatic exposure.
TEND Institute (2020) describe the following steps for successful low impact debriefing:
1. Self-Awareness
Have you ever shocked or horrified friends or family with a story that you thought was benign – or even funny? It is normal and common to become desensitized to trauma and loss when it is a daily part of your work. The first step of LID encourages you to become aware of the stories you tell and the level of detail you provide. Before sharing, stop to consider – are all the details really necessary? Can you give an abbreviated version that still communicates the necessary information?
2. Fair Warning
If you had to share bad news with a loved one, you may start the conversation with: “I have some bad news” or “you better sit down.” The second step of LID encourages you to warn your listener that the content you are going to share is disturbing or traumatic. You might start the conversation with: “I would like to debrief a difficult situation with you and the story involves traumatic content.”
3. Consent
The third step of LID is to seek permission by asking: “Is this a good time?” or “I heard something really hard today, could I talk to you about it?” The listener now has a chance to decline, or to qualify what they are able and ready to hear.
4. Limited Disclosure
Once you have received consent, the final step of LID is to decide how much to share. Start with the least disturbing details and gradually add more information as needed. You may not need to share the most graphic or traumatic details to get the benefits of sharing with a peer or loved one.
References
Tend Academy (2020). Low Impact Debriefing - LID. https://tendtoolkit.com/low-impact-debriefing-strategy/