CJ440 – CRISIS INTERVENTION

Course Instructor Thomas Bashore

CJ440Unit 1

My email address is: TBashore@kaplan.edu.

My AIM name is: Protect2357 – Office hours are Mondays 7PM – 9PM.

Phone conferences can also be accommodated.

Topics

•Read Class Announcements

•Posting in the Discussion Board area

•Learning Activities

• 3,5,8,9

•APA

•Kaplan Writing Center

•Sample Paper in DocSharing

•Quizzes

•Electronic Book

•Late Work

•Grade book

•Doc Sharing Folder

•Drop Box.

CJ440Rules for Seminar

If I type BREAK…everyone quit typing!When you want to ask a question Type "??" and I will call on youPlease do not start side conversationsPlease do not interject "Good Point" or "I Agree" as this clutters the discussion, We assume you agree and think the point was goodDon't worry about typo's. Just try to be clear and refrain from smiley faces and Slang…use proper English

Defining Crisis

Can you hear me?

CJ440Unit 1

Defining Crisis

“With the gift of listening comes the gift of healing,”

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A crisis is an overwhelming reaction to a threatening situation in which a person’s usual problem solving strategies fail to resolve the situation resulting in a state of disequilibrium

Crisis is a perception or experiencing of an event or situation as an intolerable difficulty that exceeds the person’s current resources and coping mechanisms.(James & Gilliland, 2001)

DEFINITION

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•Crises can occur on a personal or societal level.

•Physical or emotional•Death or serious illness

•Natural disaster•Civil unrest •Monetary

•Health Concerns

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Danger – can overwhelm the individual to the extent that serious pathology, including homicide and suicide, may result.

Opportunity – the pain it induces impels the person to seek help.

Characteristics ofCrisis

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Complicated – No Crisis is simple and can involve individuals, neighborhoods, communities, geographic regions, or country. Example – 9/11.

Growth and Change – Anxiety can spur change.

Characteristics ofCrisis

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No Quick Fix – usually a quick fix was sought which resulted in a relapse or a deepening crisis.

Choice – Not to chose is a choice in itself. Choosing allows a person to set goals and formulate a plan to begin to overcome the delemma.

Characteristics ofCrisis

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Disequilibrium or Disorganization – Accompanies every crisis. Example - PTSD

Characteristics ofCrisis

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Limited Time – 6 – 8 weeks was the original belief Lifetime – New understanding Example:

An adult who has unresolved anger toward a dead parent and transfers that anger to other authority figures, such as supervisors or employers, is in a transcrisis state.

Transcrisis States

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Benchmarks that are crucial to progressive stages of positive therapeutic growth

May seem to hide the underlying problem Example:

A victim of a spinal cord injury may be successfully rehabilitated physically, but may retreat into substance addiction or depression/suicidal in an attempt to begin a new lifestyle from being in a wheelchair.

Transcrisis Points

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Has been around forever Formal Crisis Theory, research, and intervention is one of the newest

fields in psychotherapy. FEMA Red Cross Suicide Prevention AA Vietnam Veterans

Brief History of Crisis Intervention

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National Organization for Women (N.O.W.) YWCA’s Suicide Hotlines Crisis Intervention Team (Police)

Brief History of Crisis Intervention

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Grassroots Movement Informal Non-professional Unsubsidized

Handled by Former / Current victims Family friends

Basic CrisisIntervention Theory

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Volunteerism Hotlines Outnumber professionals by a factor of 6 to 1

Societal Impetus 9 -11 / Bombing of Murrah Building, DC sniper School Shootings

Basic CrisisIntervention Theory

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Grief precipitated by loss Alleviated through short-term intervention Depends on how intensely the client see the problem

Basic CrisisIntervention Theory

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Determinates Developmental Sociological Physiological Environmental Situational

Expanded CrisisTheory

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• The disequilibrium that accompanies a person’s crisis can be understoodthrough gaining access to the individual’s unconscious thoughts and past emotional experiences

• Psychoanalytic theory presupposes that some early childhood fixation is the primary explanation of why an event becomes a crisis.

PsychoanalyticTheory

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• Is based not so much on what happens within an individual in crisis as on the interrelationships and interdependence among people and between people and events.

• Normally basic systems theory can be thought of as the family unit and the effects that the immediate environment, composed of the neighborhood, school, job, social club, church, and so on, has on it.

SystemsTheory

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• Systemic interactions may occur from the micro system (family and community) out to the macro system (nation) or vice versa.

• Ecosystems theory comes into play most typically when large-scale disasters occur and affect very large macro systems.

EcosystemsTheory

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• Depicts a person’s crisis as being sustained through maladaptive behaviors, negative thoughts, and destructive defense mechanisms

• As maladaptive behaviors are learned, so may adaptive behaviors be learned.

AdaptationalTheory

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• Dimensions described as enhancing personal self-esteem: openness, trust, sharing, safety, unconditional positive regard, accurate empathy, and genuineness.

• People cannot sustain a personal state of crisis for very long if they believe in themselves and in others and have confidence that they can become self-actualized and overcome the crisis.

InterpersonalTheory

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• The “messiness” of the crisis lies not in disorder but in an order that is unknown, unpredictable, and spontaneous, an ever-shifting pattern driven by millions of uncoordinated, independent factors that necessitate experimentation, yet may finally result in a global clarification of the crisis.

ChaosTheory

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• Movement through various developmental life stages is critical.

• Neglected, abused, and bullied children; alienated and isolated adolescent drug abusers; people with a lack of education or a lack of vocational satisfaction or success; those exposed to domestic violence, divorce, suicide, homicide, and a host of other problems, may be unable to meet life stages effectively.

DevelopmentalTheory

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• Developmental• Situational• Existential

Applied CrisisTheory

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• Developmental crises are events in the normal flow of human growth and evolution whereby a dramatic change or shift occurs that produces abnormal responses.

• Developmental crises may occur in response to the birth of a child, graduation from college, midlife career change, retirement, or even the aging process.

DevelopmentalCrisis Theory

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• A situational crisis emerges with the occurrence of uncommon and extraordinary events that an individual has no way of forecasting or controlling.

• Terrorist attacks, automobile accidents, kidnappings, rapes, corporate buyouts and loss of jobs, and sudden illness and death.

SituationalCrisis Theory

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• Inner conflicts and anxieties that accompany important human issues of purpose, responsibility, independence, freedom, and commitment.• An existential crisis might accompany the realization

• at age 40, that one will never make a significant and distinct impact on a particular profession or organization; remorse,

• at age 50, that one chose never to marry or leave one’s parents’ home, never made a separate life, and now has lost forever the possibility of being a fully happy and worthwhile person; or a pervasive and persistent feeling,

• at age 60, that one’s life is meaningless—that there is a void that can never be filled in a meaningful way.

ExistentialCrisis Theory

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•Life Experiences•Poise•Creativity & Flexibility•Energy & Resilience•Quick Mental Reflexes•Other

• courage, optimism, calmness under duress, objectivity, abiding faith that human beings are strong.

Characteristics of Effective Crisis Workers

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WHAT IS CRISIS INTERVENTION?

Crisis intervention is a process to assist individuals in finding adaptive solutions to unsettling events.

The Crisis StateMore than simple stress.Not necessarily mental illness.

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Psychopathological Consequences

•Anxiety Disorders•Substance – Related Disorders•Dissociative Disorders•Mood Disorders•Disorders of Infancy, Childhood, or Adolescence•Sleep Disorders•Adjustment Disorders

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STRESS ANXIETYUSUAL COPING MECHANISMS INEFFECTIVE

TRIAL & ERROR SOLUTIONS

SEVERE ANXIETY

PERSONALITY DISORGANIZATION (CRISIS)

OR

NEW PROBLEM- SOLVING SOLUTIONS AND SUPPORT

ANXIETY

PRE-CRISIS LEVEL OF FUNCTIONING

Crisis Phases

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CRISIS INTERVENTION

ASSESSMENTa. Perception of event: What happened

that prompted you to seek help?; How are you feeling now?; etc.

b. Coping mechanisms: Suicidal?; Plans?; What helps you feel better?; etc.

c. Support systems: With whom do you live with?; Who is available to help you?; Who is most helpful?; etc

ASSESSMENT

• Mental status, previous history• Identify client’s strengths• Self-assessment

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Goal of intervention

The goal of intervention is to restore the person to pre-crisis level of equilibrium, not of personality changes.

Worker attempts to mobilize the client’s internal and external resources.

Exact nature of the intervention will depend on the client’s pre-existing strengths and supports and the worker’s level of creativity and flexibility

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Standing up to the intense heat of the crisis situation to help people through seemingly unsolvable problems is some of the most gratifying and positively reinforcing work you can do in the psychotherapy business.

Rewards