The Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS) has released new guidance on adopting the practice of critical incident postvention and debriefing within funded and contracted treatment programs. In this training, we will review the BSAS guidance and engage in discussions and activities designed to build confidence in adopting them. We will begin by defining key terms and exploring the nature of critical incidents. We will then focus on skills-building activities for conducting debriefing sessions and explore resources for postvention services. Participants will learn ways to adopt these practices and discover resources to support staff and those served following critical incidents.
At the end of this training participants will be able to:
1. Define postvention and debriefing and explain their purpose within BSAS-funded and contracted programs.
2. Identify the emotional, operational, and organizational impacts of critical incidents on staff and peers.
3. Apply postvention and debriefing practices through discussion and scenario-based activities.
