Conversations with a witness to a violent episode of hostage-taking lead the author to reflect on the importance of understanding the role of unconscious identifications in conducting group debriefings with trauma survivors. Individuals with discordant identifications, identifications which run counter to the usual experience, present special challenges to leaders of critical-incident stress debriefings. Such identifications reveal much about the dynamics of calling to the helping professions and caring within them, and may serve a parabolic function, revealing aspects of God and community otherwise hidden.