Crisis Intervention Tools

A crisis or critical incident is defined by Raymond Flannery Jr. and George Everly Jr., developers of the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, as "sudden, unexpected, often life-threatening, time-limited vents that may overwhelm an individual's capacity to respond." They go on to explain that without proper crisis intervention, the stress caused by the incident can result in anxiety, stress and even Post Traumatic Stress Disorder later in the individual's life. Crisis intervention tools are practical and therapeutic supports that help the individual work through the incident in the most adaptable way possible.



Flannery and Everly's review of crisis intervention models explains that there are several models, but they all have the same sequence of procedures.

Intervention

• Once the health and social care services recognize that their client is struggling with a crisis, they need to intervene. This is to make sure that the situation does not damage the victim's health, life or ability to cope. The most suitable professionals to intervene depends on the situation. A social worker, general practitioner, domestic abuse worker or mental health worker are often the first to support the victim in the crisis.

Stabilize

• At this stage, support services are put in place to prevent the crisis from getting worse. A social worker or liaison officer may get other relevant services involved. For example, if the situation is domestic abuse, the liaison officer would involve support from a domestic abuse service and the police. The aim of stabilizing the critical incident is to stop it from going further and to get the right support to heal the situation.

Enable Understanding

• This is a joint process that involves the victim and the support services. Information is gathered from the victim about the unfolding of the crisis. He is encouraged to express emotions and to try to come to terms with the impact of the crisis. One of the aims of enhancing the victim's understanding is to help them develop insight into what caused the situation, how they became a victim to it and how to manage themselves in the future.

Problem-solving

• In a crisis, the victim is likely to be too traumatized to deal with practical issues. Support with problem-solving can help her gain a sense of taking charge. The professionals working with her will encourage her to express what she feels are the key problems. They can then work out solutions or ways of dealing with these problems, which could range from child-care issues to huge financial debt.

Promote Independence

• The most important aim of crisis intervention is to support the victim to regain autonomy in his own life. This follows on from the problem-solving stage. If the victim is involved in each step, he is in a stronger position to minimize the traumatic after-effects. He moves from being a victim in a crisis to an agent in a set of problems to be resolved. He regains the ability to live independently, perhaps even to a greater degree than before, because of the insight that he gains from the crisis intervention support.