Grief Counselors don't help people deal with grief

As ordinary citizens struggled to rebuild their lives after the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, well-meaning mental health professionals swarmed New York City to provide aid to the expected millions who would surely need support. These grief and crisis counselors delivered interventions that they believed would mitigate psychological distress and prevent the emergence of posttraumatic stress disorder.

The problem? It now seems that such techniques do not work. They don't work at all. And in fact, they may just make things worse, stirring up the intense emotions and shock of the traumatic event without providing any relief or release from the pain and suffering.

This according to this press release by the American Psychological Society

in part it says

While most people who participate in psychological debriefing say it was helpful, controlled studies showed little or no effect on the onset of PTSD. "These reports that the method is helpful may reflect little more than polite expressions of gratitude for attention received," the authors wrote. "Most studies show that individuals who receive debriefing fare no better than those who do not receive debriefing."

Simply put, the psych do not know how to provide even the most basic relief for the impact of a tragic event.