This paper provides theoretical and practical information about using structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques. The first section discusses the theory of SEM, including five general steps: (1) model specification; (2) model identification; (3) model estimation; (4) testing model fit; and (5) model respecification. The second section applies these steps to an empirical example using data from a Federal Emergency Management Agency study of the effectiveness of stress debriefings. (Contains 4 figures and 40 references.) (Author/SLD)