Debriefing

In 2009, the Texas After Violence Project asked two experienced therapists, Benita Rubinett, LCSW, and Carlos Loredo, Ph.D. to work with our project as consultants and trainers.

Additionally, they provide

- Regular facilitated debriefings for all Texas After Violence Project team members, especially interviewers, videographers, transcribers, or anyone else who is regularly exposed to extremely painful, disturbing, or even traumatic stories.

and

- Short-term individual counseling or debriefing on request

Benita and Carlos are also available for individual short-term counseling or debriefing to any TAVP team member who wishes to consult with either of them because of stress, sadness, or other reactions to work with TAVP. "Short-term" in this context means one to three sessions. The project will pay for up to three sessions, but the content of the session will of course be private and privileged. The TAVP team member does not have to go through anyone to set up a session; she or he should just call Benita or Carlos directly. Benita or Carlos will send the invoice for one to three sessions to the project director (currently Virginia). If the person feels the need to see a therapist more than three times, she or he should discuss this matter with Benita or Carlos and discuss alternatives, but the project will not be able to pay for ongoing counseling or therapy.

A Texas After Violence Project team member who wishes to see a counselor or therapist other than Benita Rubinett or Carlos Loredo may of course do so; the project will reimburse the team member for one to three sessions provided that therapist's fees are reasonable (not out of line with fees for comparable services in Austin).