Effectiveness of Group ISP® in War-Time Events

Effectiveness of Group ISP® in War-Time Events (Effectiveness of Group ISP® in War-Time Events)

Leslie Stachelski, Steve Beatty, Miya Moore-Felton, Olya Zaporozhets

Counselor Educator and Supervision

Regent University School of Psychology and Counseling

 

Translated by: Specialist Psychologist Gizem Pozam

 

Group Immediate Stabilization Procedure (G-ISP)

G-ISP is an AIP-derived procedure developed to stabilize individuals within minutes to hours following a traumatic event without the risk of retraumatization. (Quinn, 2009).

EMDR Early Intervention (EEI) guidelines indicate that stabilization is necessary in psychological first aid (PFA). ISP may be an appropriate approach just hours after a traumatic event (Shapiro, 2012).

The six (6) ISP protocols are:

1- Danger

2- Lack of Control - Overwhelm

3- Lack of Control - Future

4- Lack of Control - Others

5- Responsibility / Guilt

6- Self-Care

Purpose of the Study

To determine whether there is a significant difference between initial and final subjective units of disturbance scale (SUDS) levels following a single group ISP (G-ISP) session administered to victims experiencing wartime-related events, and to record any incidents of retraumatization resulting from the intervention.

Group+Telehealth=Benefits

• Online therapy options increase accessibility, particularly for those facing geographical, health, or logistical challenges.


• Online G-ISP therapy offers flexibility and safety, benefiting both clients and therapists.


• Cost and time savings are additional advantages for clients.

Methods

At the onset of the Russia-Ukraine War, researchers collaborated with founder Dr. Gray Quinn to compile and translate a comprehensive Ukrainian ISP Manual, including training videos.

Services were advertised on Ukrainian social media, and participants registered to receive G-ISP stabilization intervention sessions online at no cost. All participants were randomly paired with an ISP-trained provider within 24 hours. Convenience sampling was used.

Participants

From September 2022 to February 2023, 55 participants who received Group ISP sessions online from the Ukraine Center of Psychological Counseling and Trauma Therapy were recorded. Of the participants, 7 were male (14%) and 43 were female (86%), with a mean age of 42.9 (SD=9.1). The youngest participant was 28 and the oldest was 66.

All participants were Ukrainians living in different geographical regions after relocating to safety because of the war.

Procedure

Group ISP sessions were administered remotely via video by ISP-trained Ukrainian psychologists. SUD values were recorded immediately before and immediately after the administration of ISP.

Analysis

The data were also coded and analyzed by the researcher. Descriptive statistics, paired-samples t-tests, and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were conducted to determine whether there was a statistically significant mean difference in SUD levels following the Group ISP intervention and to assess the effectiveness of G-ISP relative to previous evidence-based ISP outcomes (Beatty et al., 2023).

Limitations

• Although ISP showed a greater decrease in SUD levels in one-on-one settings than in group settings, the effect size was small.


• Further research is needed to confirm these findings because of the small sample size.


• The researchers believe that group dynamics and unequal sample sizes between group and individual settings may have influenced the results.

Conclusion

• G-ISP significantly reduced participants' SUD levels in less than 15 minutes.


• G-ISP was effective in reducing distress levels in telehealth group settings, with group sizes ranging from 2 to 65.


• G-ISP did not require preliminary stabilization before administration.


• No retraumatization was reported by any participant or G-ISP provider.


• Mental health practitioners can become proficient after a few hours of training, making G-ISP a valuable addition to their competencies.


• Military personnel should be trained and certified to administer G-ISP because of its simplicity, safety, timeliness, and effectiveness.


• G-ISP can be administered in conjunction with physical first aid.

Future Research

• To increase the objectivity of measurements, future studies could also use independent measures such as blood pressure and heart rate.


• Examining G-ISP in non-war-related events could broaden the understanding of its effectiveness across various contexts.


• Larger samples from different groups would help generalize the results and assess effectiveness consistently.


• Further research should focus on populations in combat and non-combat scenarios to demonstrate its applicability to the military.


• Given its simplicity, timeliness, and effectiveness, research should examine children together with their parents in a group setting to determine effectiveness.

 

 

 

 

Effectiveness of Group ISP® in War-Time Events

Leslie Stachelski, Steve Beatty, Miya Moore-Felton, Olya Zaporozhets

 

Counselor Educator and Supervision

Regent University School of Psychology and Counseling

 

Group Immediate Stabilization Procedure (G-ISP)

G-ISP is an AIP-derived procedure developed to stabilize persons within minutes to hours following a traumatic event without risk for re-traumatization (Quinn, 2009).

 

Guidelines for EMDR Early Intervention (EEI) indicate that stabilization is needed in psychological first aid (PFA). ISP could be an appropriate  approach just hours after the traumatic event (Shapiro, 2012).

 

The six (6) ISP protocols are:

1- Danger

2- Lack of Control - Overwhelm

3- Lack of Control - Future

4- Lack of Control - Others

5- Responsibility / Guilt

6- Self-Care

 

Purpose of Study

To determine if a significant difference exists as measured between the initial and final subjective units of disturbance scale (SUDS) levels following a single group session of ISP (G-ISP) when administered to victims experiencing wartime-related events, and record any retraumatization incidents resulting from the intervention.

 

Group+Telehealth=Benefits

• Online therapy options expand accessibility, particularly for those facing location, health, or logistical challenges.


• Onlinie G-ISP therapy offers flexibility and safety, benefiting both clients and therapists.


• Cost and time savings are additional advantages for clients.

 

Methods

At the onset of the Russian-Ukranian War, researchers collaborated with founder Dr. Gray Quinn to compile and translate a comprehensive Ukrainian ISP Manual including training videos.

 

Services were advertised on Ukrainian social media and participants registered to receive G-ISP stabilization intervention sessions online, at no cost. All the participants were paired randomly with ISP-trained provider within 24 hours. Convenience sampling was employed.

 

Participants

From September 2022 to February 2023, 55 participants were recorded having received Group ISP sessions from Ukraine Center of Psychological Counseling and Trauma Therapy via online. 7 were male (%14), 43 were female (86%) with an average age of 42.9 (SD=9.1). The youngest was 28; the oldest 66.

All participants were Ukrainian in various geographical locations due to safety relocation from the war.

 

Procedure

Group ISP sessions were administered via remote video by ISP-trained Ukrainian psychologists. SUD values were recorded immediately before and immediately after administration of ISP.

 

Analysis

Data was further coded and analyzed by the researcher. Descriptive statistics, paired sample t-tests, and an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were performed  to determine if a statistically significant mean difference exist in SUD levels following a group ISP intervention and to assess the effectiveness of G-ISP to previous ISP evidence-based outcome results (Beatty et al., 2023).

 

Limitations

• Although ISP showed a greater decrease in SUD levels in one-on-one settings compared to group settings, the effect size was small.


• Further research is needed to confirm these findings due to the small sample.


• The researchers speculated that group dynamics and imbalance sample sizes between group and individual setting could have influenced the results.

 

Conclusion

• G-ISP significantly reduced participants SUD levels in less than 15 minutes.


• G-ISP was effective in reducing distress levels in telehealth group settings, with group sizes ranging from 2 to 65.


• G-ISP did not require pre-stabilization prior to administration.


• No retraumatization was reported by any participant or G-ISP provider.


• Mental health practitioners can become proficient after a few hours of training, making G-ISP a valuable addition to their competencies.


• Military personnel should be trained and certified to administer G-ISP due to its simplicity, safety, timeliness, and effectiveness.


• G-ISP could be administered in conjunction with physical first aid.

 

Future work

• To enhance objectivity of measures, future studies acould incorporate independent measurements such as blood pressure and heart rate.


• Examining G-ISP in non-war-related events could broaden understanding of its effectiveness across various context.


• Larger sample sized from different groups would aid generalizing results and assessing effectiveness consistently.


• Further research should focus on populations in combat and non-combat scenarios to demonstrate applicability to military.


• Given the simplicity, timeliness, and effectiveness, research should consider children with parents as a group dynamic to determine effectivenes.