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What We Do

Properly trained and clinically supervised Critical Incident Peer Support Groups provide many services that include situational assessment for agency administrators, managers, and others to help determine the appropriate response. A methodical evaluation ensures that tactics are applied at the right time, in the right place, and under the right circumstances. We provide the leadership to times of uncertainty into ultimate order. We offer a licensed Mental Health Professional (Clinician) experienced in trauma and meet our screening and experience criteria.

Training and Certification Standards

Training is a critical aspect of ensuring consistency and confidence in peer supporters. Specific training needs have been developed in association with the defined roles of each Critical Incident Peer Support Group member. Critical Incident Peer Support Groups and Critical Incident Stress Management Coordinators (CISM Coordinators) providing crisis intervention services for BLM and BIA personnel will be trained and certified by the International Critical Incident Stress Foundations (ICISF). Read More

Limitations to Peer Support and Road to Resiliency

The use of peer supporters is not a substitute for the services of mental health professionals. It must be established and understood that peer supporters augment clinician services but do no replace them. Not everyone is suited for the role. Some individuals may be unwilling to talk with peers because they question their credibility/validity, know them well or professionally they are too closely associated, want to be counseled by a professional, or are concerned about lack of confidentiality.

The emphasis of peer support has to be on managing stress, not on the stress itself. It is easy to fall into the trap of sharing ‘war stories’ when speaking to those in crisis in an attempt to underscore many of the unique ways stress presents itself following a critical incident or trauma. Stressful stories told to stressed-out people can often compound the trauma by having the exact opposite of the desired effect. People in a crisis have no emotional reserve to hear someone else’s crisis story.

However, when the most significant emphasis is on managing stress with a sincere desire to foster growth and resiliency, natural healing and change can occur with lifelong positive implications that impact the individual in crisis and their family, friends, and peers as well.