International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc.
International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc.
By: Lovie Tabron, MS, LAT, ATC
University of GA Athletic Association
Behavioral Medical Coordinator
CISM has taught myself and my teammates so many transferrable skills. The lessons we have learned from utilizing CISM skills and being on the receiving end of CISM have been invaluable. Trusting the process and finding resiliency within self and others amidst critical incidents has helped us resolve many dark days and hours. Learning to listen when the volume is inaudible has assisted with articulating and summarizing those dark moments. Providing empathetic feedback through skills learned in CISM training has been a visual turning point on many occasions.
As with many things in life, being comfortable through the processes can be frustrating. The first time I experienced the process of CISM I thought I was broken, and unable to assist the broken people around me. The CISM process taught me patience in allowing the emotional process to unfold and has given me comfort in the normal lack of emotional control that accompanies experiencing a critical incident. Once I was trained in CISM that lesson of patience translated to my explanation of the process and is heard through my appreciation of the process. Patience within a critical incident is truly a learned skill but through normalization the importance is easily understood. CISM has granted an understanding that it is okay to not solve everything in one sit down.
Internally and externally the art of listening is simple but brilliant. CISM skills have taught me that it is okay to not be okay and to communicate that. Healing can take place once a person learns that it is okay to go through a series of feelings related to a situation. Learning to listen and hear without intent of judgment or fixing the problem is truly a transferrable skill that CISM teaches. Listening intently has taught me to recognize my or others emotions, acknowledge properly and refer appropriately. I have also learned to listen to actions and nonverbal commands and find that sometimes they may be louder than the words said.
Humans are feelers but sometimes lack the ability to understand and share those feelings with someone else. CISM has lent lessons illustrating empathy is not a one size fits all. Instead, empathetic responses should be designed for each person allowing people to understand what empathy looks and feels like to their peers. Critical Incidents can range and are not one size fits all, with the same respect the impact of the incident and what people feel from it will range. CISM has taught me the importance of acknowledging the individuality that should accompany a response when speaking to someone in crisis. This is extremely helpful even in day to day interactions. Our friends, family members and co-workers often experience some level of critical incidents multiple times a week. Being able to respond empathetically and identifying the best way to meet them where they are in that moment is a life saving skill. “People want to know how much you care, before they care how much you know.”- Theodore Roosevelt
Personally CISM has helped me find hope when I dealt with losing student-athletes. It has reminded me of my self-importance when dealing with catastrophic injuries and student-athletes. It has renewed my belief in people as they utilized these skills and reached out to me throughout both incidents. I have also seen first hand where CISM usage has brought a staff closer together and helped them understand and focus on what each individual within their group was experiencing.
Being a part of the National Athletic Trainers Association, ATs Care Commission CISM Team has been a life changing appointment. We have impacted so many people with in our profession but more importantly each one of those people impacted us through usage of CISM techniques. We are all better people because we employ CISM skills routinely.
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International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc is a 501(c)3 Non Profit