We used to treat trauma with "critical incident stress debriefing," where patients would describe what had happened and their emotions. 9/11 changed that:
In the past decade … research has shown that sort of intervention, no matter how well intentioned, is probably not the most helpful response to get victims feeling better more quickly. As [Patricia Watson, of the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress] notes, these sessions might well "be too brief to allow for adequate emotional processing, may increase arousal and anxiety levels or may inadvertently decrease the likelihood that individuals will pursue more intense interventions.
Vaughan Bell simplifies the current advice:
You don’t need to be a mental health professional to use the techniques and they largely consist of looking after the practical needs of the person plus working toward making them feel safe and comfortable. No processing of emotions, no ‘disaster narratives’, no fancy psychology – really just being practical, gentle and kind.
The Dish 