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Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention 2:85-94 (2002)
© 2002 Oxford University Press

Affirming Flames: Debriefing Survivors of the World Trade Center Attack

   Joshua Miller, PhD

From the Smith College School for Social Work

Contact author: Joshua Miller, PhD, Smith College School for Social Work, Lilly Hall, Northampton, MA 01063. E-mail: jlmiller{at}smith.edu

On September 11, 2001, a terrorist attack on the United States led to the fatal hijacking of four commercial airliners and the collapse of the World Trade Center (WTC). This article describes the immediate responses of survivors of the WTC, based on group debriefings and individual crisis intervention sessions held 2 to 3 weeks after the initial event. There is a brief discussion about critical incident stress debriefings followed by a consideration of who needed help and how mental health disaster organizations attempted to organize responses. The "security zone" nearby the site of the WTC is described and the experiences and reactions of survivors are shared. There is a recommendation for national accrediting of training and licensing of mental health disaster responders.

KEY WORDS: debriefings, crisis intervention, World Trade Center, critical incidents, disaster mental health






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