Commentary
The key ingredients in any effective crisis intervention are:
1. Accepting
Accepting commands that one listens to the truth, even when it is painful. The initial crisis intervention will be a painful experience for all involved. An accepting posture requires that you avoid reacting either verbally or with body language to what you hear. Acceptance reflects a compassion that is not conditional.
2. Reassuring
As a helper, you can bring hope by accepting young people where they are, by listening to their fear and pain, and reassuring them that others have walked the same road and have survived. Hope energizes and renews.
3. Listening
A person in crisis needs an opportunity to talk, and must feel confident that those thoughts and feelings are not falling on deaf ears. Listening requires total attention. People in crisis need the freedom to talk about the experience they have had. It probably will not come easily at first. You must communicate a willingness to give the time required.
4. Processing
The task of processing is the task of gathering the facts, identifying the major characters, and determining their impact on and relationship to the present crisis. It requires gathering as much information as possible from the person(s).
The Following questions are helpful in processing details about a crisis situation:
- What are the areas of crisis in your life?
- What are the major stress points?
- What people are contributing to the crisis?
- In what way are these people involved?
- From whom are you getting support?
- Have you considered hurting yourself or others?
- Are you under the care of a doctor?
- Have you seen a counselor recently?
The purpose of the processing stage in crisis intervention is to:
- Allow for the expression of feeling;
- Gather information about the person’s crisis;
- Determine if the person is dangerous (to him/herself or others);
- Build trust in the helper’s willingness to stick with the relationship.
5. Focusing
Focusing involves helping people in crisis pinpoint the primary cause of their present situation. Major bouts with crisis tend to awaken other unresolved areas in person’s life, thus compounding the intensity of the precipitating crisis.
6. Planning
The last step involves assisting the young person to develop a plan of action that will result in resolution of the crisis or the lessening of impact that the crisis is having. As a helper, you must realize that your role is just that – to help the hurting person, not to solve the problem for the person.
Suggested Plan of Action
- What is the identified problem?
- What is the desired result?
- Who are the active participants?
- What are the major roadblocks?
- Who should be involved?
- Professional referrals
- Family
- Friend
- Other
- Must immediate action be taken?
- What is the timetable?
- What others resources are required? (money, transportation, food, other)
- Who will provide ongoing support?
Related Policies
7.2 Only those who have been professionally trained are to serve as counselors. 2048
7.3 If a youth minister or youth ministry volunteer holds professional qualifications (Doctor, Nurse, Counselor, Social Worker) they should respond in a manner appropriate to their qualifications.