Grief counseling of students questioned in new study

Some good food for thought for those in a ministry in which many have been affected by one particular tragedy, or for those who might one day need to help students through a tragedy.

When a student dies, even the most bustling school can feel like a mausoleum.

Grief professionals come in, information assemblies are held and young people are encouraged to discuss their emotions in groups or one-on-one meetings with counselors.

But asking students to relive or recollect a tragedy could hurt more than help, according to a new commentary published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Psychological debriefing could actually contribute to post-traumatic stress disorder rather than stave it off, researchers from Dalhousie University write.

Popularized in the 1970s and 1980s and now institutionalized at many schools, psychological debriefing is a single-session intervention that involves reliving the trauma and talking about emotional reactions.

The paper, which concludes there is no evidence to say psychological debriefing works, adds to a growing consensus in the medical community that forcing these interventions on grieving students could aggravate their stress.

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