LEARN HOW TO ADVISE PEOPLE IN A CRISIS
- Discover the various categories of crises.
- Learn more about the various crisis intervention techniques.
- Study the moral, legal, and professional ramifications of crisis intervention.
A crisis is a time of transition in a person’s life, whether they are an individual, family, or organisation. It can be viewed as a challenge or a threat, a “make or break” opportunity or risk, a gain or a loss, or both at once.
Most people can anticipate to face crises as part of a normal spectrum of life events, and most people recover from crises on their own without the help of a professional. Nonetheless, there are some crises that fall outside of a person’s normal experience or coping mechanisms and may need professional assistance to recover from.
Any scenario in which a person feels a sudden loss of their capacity to problem-solve and cope can be referred to as a crisis. Natural catastrophes, sexual assault, criminal victimisation, mental illness, suicidal ideation, homicide, a significant shift in relationships, and other events may fall under this category.
Lesson Structure
There are 9 lessons in this course:
- Understanding methods of crisis intervention What constitutes a crisis and methods of crisis intervention?
- Ethical, professional and legal issues Current ethical, professional and legal implications of crisis intervention.
- Dangers of crises and effective intervention Dangers posed by crisis to the individual, the counsellor, and those around them. Determining effective modes of intervention.
- Developmental Crises Recognising and comprehending crises from a developmental perspective.
- Post-traumatic stress disorder Symptoms, treatment options and possible outcomes of post-traumatic stress disorder.
- Violence and sexual assault Effects of violence and sexual assault on the individual, and possible modes of intervention.
- Crisis and drug addiction Determining the relationship between crises and drug dependence.
- Family crises Major issues raises in family crises and appropriate methods of intervention.
- Crises and cultural issues Cultural influences on crisis situations.
Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school’s tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.
Aims
- Determine what characterises a crisis and talk about crisis intervention techniques
- The ethical, professional, and legal ramifications of crisis intervention today are discussed.
- During crisis intervention, discuss the risks that crises offer to the client, the counsellor, and those nearby in order to choose the best modes of intervention.
- Determine and clarify crises that are developing from a developmental standpoint.
- Describe the signs, probable cures, and results of post-traumatic stress disorder.
- Provide examples of how violence and sexual assault affect a person and suggest some intervention strategies.
- Describe the connection between drug abuse and crises.
- Talk about the main problems that develop in family crises and suitable intervention techniques.
- Talk about how culture affects crisis circumstances.
How You Plan to Act
- A critical event debriefing role-playing exercise
- Get to know the counselling association’s code of conduct.
- Consult a counsellor at a local community mental health centre.
- Watch or watch movies, read or listen to stories, or, if you can, all three, on personal or family difficulties.
- Inquire about PTSD with a community mental health professional.
- Examine the physical, emotional, cognitive, and social reactions to violence or sexual assault.
- Analyze the connection between trauma and drug use.
- To understand how different cultures and subcultures respond to crises, interview or observe people from those cultures.
- Examine how various counselling techniques may be necessary for sub-cultural populations.
- Think about the various crisis intervention techniques.
Before a crisis occurs, learn how to handle it.
Everyone experiences crises, and there are many different ways to intervene, from family support and help to professional counselling techniques, all of which are intended to help the person deal with the crisis in a way that lessens the negative psychological, physiological, and behavioural effects of trauma on that person and his or her environment.
Crisis counseling’s goal is to address a person’s current situation by addressing a crisis. Persistent stress or trauma exposure can result in mental illness. Counselors must therefore possess the abilities and knowledge to aid clients in overcoming their present difficulties and trauma. Crisis counselling is a short-term intervention to help clients gain support, resources, assistance, and stabilisation. It is not intended to provide psychotherapy or anything related.
In contrast to other counselling techniques, crisis intervention focuses on quick fixes to minimise harm both during and just after a traumatic occurrence. During a period of crisis counselling, the client will frequently get ongoing counselling aimed at enhancing their mental health and overall welfare. They will be covered in further detail in the course of this lecture.
Crisis intervention serves a variety of functions. It seeks to lessen how strongly a person reacts to a crisis physically, mentally, emotionally, and behaviorally. Also, it aids in the person’s restoration to the pre-incident level of functioning.
Crisis intervention also has an educational component. The person will be informed of the typical responses to an unusual scenario. The person will be informed that their reactions are transient and that there is no set period of time during which they can anticipate recovering from the crisis.
What You Might Get Out of This Course
Most counsellors are skilled at assisting clients in overcoming difficulties. Even the most well-adjusted people can be affected by crises, which come in many different forms. Everyone finds it so challenging to deal with them because of their suddenness and our powerlessness to change them. This training gives counsellors and trainees the tools they need to deal with a wide range of crisis situations, such as assaults, fatalities, terrorist attacks, and different kinds of loss.
Those who want to increase the scope of their counselling skills and those who want to include it as part of a certificate or higher level qualification should take this course. Those who are currently employed in or who plan to be employed in:
- Counselling
- Crisis counselling
- Trauma counselling
- Psychotherapy
- Psychology
- Health professions
- Caring roles
Comment from an ACS student: [This course] improves my abilities for my position in the handicap sector. One of the best things about ACS is how flexible it is when it comes to how you may organise your assignments. They don’t obsess over little details but rather [concentrate on] the fundamental knowledge you have acquired. Australia’s Darrell Blackman, a crisis counsellor
