Small Group Exercise

1
Small Group Exercise

• Identify typical ways that your family tries to
  resolve conflicts deal with crisis
• How is this influenced by your culture/race/religi
  on/family ideology
• What kind of ways of resolving conflict make you
  personally uncomfortable how do you react?
• What life experiences do you have that prepare
  you to help people in crisis?
• Do you think crisis counselors need to have a
  similar background to the persons they help?

2
CRISIS INTERVENTION

• Basic Principles

3
Definition of a Crisis

• A crisis is a problem situation that is
  overwhelming currently available resources and
  capacities of person(s) to cope, manage or
  resolve
• Presence of danger opportunity
• Crisis states Transcrisis states
• Crisis results in fight, flight, freeze, fuse or
  other inadequate coping and defensive behaviors

4
Psychological First Aid

• Involves lending the helpers more functional
  perception, judgment executive skills to
  respond to an urgent problem. It requires you
  to
• Respond immediately
• Respond at the scene
• See the emergency through, at least until back-up
  resources are in place

5
Steps in Crisis Intervention

• Assess dangerousness
• Threats/actual violence
• Weapons or means to accomplish threats
• Who are involved?
• How rational is person
• drugs/alcohol

• Protect self and potential victims
• Entering dangerous territory
• Use a signal system
• Get explicit permission from clients to enter
  their private space
• 9

6
Six-Steps of Crisis Intervention

• Listening
• Define the problem
• Ensure safety
• Provide support communicate in meaningful way

• Acting
• Examine alternatives
• Make plans
• Obtain commitment of client

7
Form initial working relationship

• You cannot not communicate Messages have
  content, context meta-levels - What message is
  person receiving?
• Typical narrowing of perception, rigid thinking
  of distressed persons

• Understand world view (culture, religion,
  psychosis)
• Reflective listening
• Decide on symmetrical or complementary
  relationship
• Decide how much power to display

8
Consider Reporting Responsibilities

• Confidentiality mandates of profession/agency
• Child abuse reporting
• Tarasoff reporting
• Involuntary commitment

9
What to Avoid

• Overfriendliness
• Dont assume you know how other feels
• Promises you cannot deliver
• Superlatives, over-generalizations
• Imitating peoples lingo or style (unless you are
  familiar with it)
• Trick or fool people, or lie

10
How to Influence Persons in Crisis

• Use simple, positive language
• Get them to say yes to something
• Frame suggestions as alternatives (with
  unacceptable solutions made impossible)

• Reason logically about alternatives when person
  in crisis is able to do so
• Slow down if no immediate danger make available
  plenty of time