Law Enforcement Critical Incident Teams: Using Psychodramatic Methods for Debriefing Training

Abstract

The Critical Incident Stress Management Team of the Mesa, Arizona, Police Department uses psychodramatic techniques for debriefing training. The process involves the action methods of roleplay, warm-up, doubling, role reversal, and deroling. These methods blend well with current critical incident training models and with the previous models developed in the psychodrama department of St. Elizabeths Hospital. In this article, the authors report on their use of the models and present a scenario that they developed for training personnel in debriefing procedures.