Spiritual Debriefing

Debriefing is like unpacking your suitcase 4 different ways. There are at least three primary types of debriefing workers may receive during a career, and this post introduces the fourth. 

1. The Administrative Debrief. 

This debrief is when the HR/Team Leader/Director of Operations sits down with a worker and discusses administrative details and what went well, what didn't, what the worker may need to do or hand over to another for the smooth functioning of the team and/or project. This is primarily task oriented and does not address the soul (inner life) of the worker.

Administrators should be extremely cautious of making any judgment of a worker at this point - usually administrative debriefs occur right after a worker comes off the field and is back at headquarters. Often it takes a worker up to 3 months to "feel normal", but even then is still in major transition and recovery. The administrative debrief should not include the term debrief.

2. The Term Debrief

This type of debriefing happens after a worker has completed a term, is much more related to "their story."  It focuses on the highs and lows of the term, joys and challenges, things learned, relationships built, griefs and losses. This is much more about understanding the whole term and what happened to this person - their expectations met and unmet, what unresolved conflicts there may be, etc.

The term debrief should also not include the Administrative debrief, and if a crisis debrief has not been done even though a crisis occurred, that is separate from a term debrief.

3. The Crisis Debrief.  

This we call the Critical Incident Stress Debrief (CISD)  Neal and I often give this training (how to give a CISD) to teams, organizations, and communities.  Lay people are able to give this debrief, but we no longer broadly advertise it - the right kind of individual at the right stage of life is necessary for this one to go well. Instead, if the leaders in a community or organization would like this training, please simply contact us to arrange it.

This type of debriefing occurs after a crisis event - could be a car accident, a bombing, even a birthing experience in a cross-cultural situation.  The severity of the event depends upon how it impacted the individual.  Often times, the people surrounding the person in crisis also need a debrief.

This type of debrief focuses on just the crisis event, and is a guided process that helps the individual work through the trauma. It has been proven that a trained peer debriefer providing the crisis debrief can help a worker avoid or dramatically decrease the effects of PTSD.

Contact me if you are interested to discuss how to schedule this training for your group/area.

But I want to discuss another type of debriefing.

4. A Spiritual History Debrief. 

This type of debriefing is not discussed or rarely discussed.  There is not a book or article about it that I am aware of.  If you have inner healing prayer training, or are well versed in spiritual warfare, it will help.

It also helps to know the actual physical/geographical history of the land that the worker has been in, including the types of holidays they celebrate.  What idioms do they have in their culture? What phrases are repeated a lot? How do the average people practice their religion?

Knowing this background is extremely helpful.  I advocate member care workers also learn and pay attention to both history and current events in the countries of the workers they shepherd and care for.

• A spiritual history debrief is a subset of a term debrief, and would also definitely factor in what happened from a crisis (hopefully the worker had a crisis debrief ). 
• A spiritual history debrief is not a subset of a crisis debrief.  A Crisis debrief stands alone, and should not have much if any element of inner healing prayer.  That should stay separate. 
• Like any debriefing, the person being debriefed should do the most talking.  
• The person providing the debrief should refrain from teaching.  
• This is also not spiritual direction, not coaching, and not counseling.  

This is asking questions that the worker has not had time to think through, and requires silence and waiting while they realize some of the spiritual elements of what they've experienced.  It also requires trust - this is pointing to the person's inner life, and often we do a great job judging/criticizing ourselves.

God desires truth in our inner being, so this is a way of drawing out those deeper truths about who they are, who God has been for them this past term, and recognizing why He put them in that place for their own transformation and for others.

Here are five areas we focus on when incorporating a spiritual debriefing element with a person: 

1. What have you learned and discovered about yourself during this term? How have you recognized and celebrated that you sense God's goodness and you are acting in his pleasure?  What would it look like to celebrate His goodness in your life and that He is pleased with you?

2. What have you discovered about yourself that God wants you to work on? What "room" in your soul do you need to invite God into and let Him touch and heal you there?

3. Externally - During this term, what did God invite you to participate in there? And to what degree did you participate in what He called you to?

4. What external challenges and/or threats did you face, in whatever form?  These could have been the forces of darkness battling you, your own choices, opposition from others - both other workers or locals?  What do you sense God had in mind for you to engage in and how has that impacted you?

5. Where did you brush up against evil darkness and what has been the impact on you?

Again, these are questions to ask gently and softly, and nuance as you feel led to.  But often times, workers do not have safe places to discuss these questions.  I would strongly urge any leaders or administrators to refrain from offering a spiritual debriefing to anyone they have responsibility for.  Ask other trusted folks to help your workers.