Traumatic Incident Reduction and Critical Incident Stress
          Management:  A Synergistic Approach (TIR Applications)
Edited by:  Victor R. Volkman
Publisher:  Loving Healing Press
ISBN:  978-1-932690-29-3

This book is the first in Loving Healing Press' series on Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR) and Related Techniques.  The book is filled with excellent articles by experienced social workers, doctors, nurses and others with extensive insight into TIR and Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM).

TIR is a brief, one-on-one, person centered method used to permanently eliminate the negative effects of past trauma.  By necessity, it is highly structured and emphasizes safety.  The client basically "rewinds" their memories, emotions and responses to a traumatic incident; and then "plays" this mental video to themselves and discuess it with the counselor.  It is discussed with the counselor in as much detail as a client is comfortable with; the counselor leads the client into identifying and claiming the emotions they felt at the time of the trauma.  By repeatedly "reviewing" the memory with the counselor, the client is able to reach a peak emotional response; and on continued review the negative response will lessen. 

What is CISM?  Critical Incident

Stress Management is a comprehensive system of crisis intervention utilizing peer support for dealing with the aftermath of critical or traumatic incidents.  As professionals and most laypersons understand, the time following an incident of trauma or crisis often will have an overwhelming or intense, all-encompassing impact on both those directly impacted by the trauma and the responders involved in the aftermath.  CISM utilizes a short period of specialised training to instruct interested employees/responders in how to confront and address the emotional needs of  their colleagues following response to a crisis.  Because colleagues have a better understanding of the work process environment, etc., they are more quickly able to grasp and understand the feelings of their co-workers as it relates to the job and situation; a good short description of what they do would be "emotional first aid".

The book offers really wonderful and informative chapters on post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and resolving it; the basic methods of TIR and CISM; crime in the workplace; facilitating the use of TIR/CISM for practioners, and summaries of commonly used intervention techniques..

I think anyone in a position of interacting with persons who have undergone traumatic incidents can greatly benefit from this book.  It gives a very indepth look at all facets of TIR and CISM; and would be of invaluable use as a permanent part of the reference library.  Highly recommended.