Essay Sample: Crisis Intervention Strategies and Crisis Intervention Counseling

The concepts of crisis and trauma emerged centuries ago (Wang, 2020). However, crisis intervention strategies and crisis intervention counseling as concepts associated with the fields of psychology, counseling, social work, and nursing have emerged within the last twenty-five years (Pau, 2020). Pau (2020) defines crisis as a circumstance, event, or situation that is intolerable and difficult, which in most cases tends to be stronger than the victim's coping mechanisms. The victim experiences a disequilibrium state because their coping mechanism is stretched too far (Wang, 2020). The American Psychiatry Association, on the other hand, defines trauma as the emotional responses that an individual has towards events that they perceive as physically and psychologically painful to them (Wang, 2020). Whereas crises are brief events, traumatic experiences have extreme, prolonged effects on an individual psychological and physiological response. Crisis intervention strategies and counseling sessions are management techniques designed to reduce the damage associated with a crisis (Wang, 2020). Efficient intervention strategies are associated with a basic step that includes; assessing the victim, establishing a positive relationship, examining the issue, talking about the emotions, exploring coping strategies, implementing a plan, and a commitment to adhering to this plan and constant follow up (Wang, 2020). Employing these methods helps to reinstate mental health, prevent and mitigate psychological trauma following a crisis (Pau, 2020). This literature review divulges the crisis intervention strategies and crisis intervention counseling and their importance to understanding trauma.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

If left unmonitored, people affected by crises can undergo severe trauma or psychological distress (Wang, 2020). This then graduates into post-traumatic stress disorder and various other mental issues (Wang, 2020). Victims may resort to self-harming tendencies and inflicting pain to those around them through agitations and unhinged scenarios like sexual assault. Pau (2020) recognizes trauma as a precursor to drug use and depression. Crisis intervention is therefore required as it helps mitigate such risks to either oneself or even others (Wang, 2020). Based on the report produced by Wang, not only does crisis intervention prevent trauma from people affected, but intervention techniques are also used in medical settings to treat people suffering from mental health conditions affected by disasters (Wang, 2020). Prior studies divulge that emergency departments with crisis intervention teams for pediatric and adult patients are characterized by; minimal return visits and reduced hospital stay (Wang, 2020). Notably, crisis intervention care tends to reduce repeat admissions and the mental situation of a patient. Crisis management techniques were seen as more effective than the standard care of improving a patient's care (Pau, 2020).

There are different types of disasters; natural disasters and severe disease outbreaks, public violence, human-created disasters, and technological disasters (Boscariano, 2015). The common factor among these disasters is their effects on the victims (Boscariano, 2015). Like Wang, Boscorio suggests that the most common effects observed by individuals following such crises include mental health conditions like trauma, substance abuse, and increased utilization of mental health tools (Boscariano, 2015). According to Boscariono, public education and risk communication can reduce the negative impacts of the crisis. Risk communications following a traumatic event, risk communications exchange information and ideas from the experts to the affected individuals (Boscariano, 2015). The two intervention strategies, public education and risk communication, also reduce trauma and lessens other mental health disorders. Drawing from studies conducted on distinct past experiences such as Hurricane Katrina, terrorist attacks in New York, and Hurricane Sandy (Boscariano, 2015) suggests that crisis interventions should be considered a priority post-disaster (Boscariano, 2015). Crisis intervention strategies should also be included in the community, incorporated in workplaces, and the exiting research (Boscariano, 2015). Further, he suggests that post-event health surveillance should be contemplated in the aftermath of major incidents.

A lack of community-based-crisis-intervention strategy has led to increased Emergency Departments' usage for normal mental conditions care (Zhang, 2015). Long-term community-based crisis management is ideal for an individual facing trauma and is also a vital part of care. According to Simpson (2019), post-crisis symptoms such as anxiety and depression are the fastest growing mental condition disorders in Emergency Departments. Single-Session Therapy uses the concept of crisis intervention as a framework for assessment and treatment of traumatic experiences (Simpson, 2019). Through this model of crisis intervention, the affected person's emotional and behavioral responses are guide treatment. This one-session crisis intervention is effective because, unlike the traditional psychiatric methods, it treats post-psych crisis symptoms of trauma such as anxiety and depressive tendencies (Simpson, 2019). On the other hand, Stapleton assesses the effectiveness of medical crisis intervention in patients following a painful event such as miscarriages, still-birth, road accident trauma, or a severe medical diagnosis or procedure (Stapleton, 2006). Just like the one-session intervention studies on medical crisis intervention support Multi-Session therapy as effective in the mitigation of traumatic.

An organization needs to have crisis intervention strategies. In some Organizations, workers are constantly exposed to traumatic events; police, fire, and rescue, health workers (Richins, 2020). After exposure to crises in their work fields, such organizations need to incorporate crisis intervention strategies by facilitating meetups with a counselor who ensures individuals open up about their feelings and reactions to the traumatic event. Crisis intervention counseling especially eases the emotional distress of the victim (Richins, 2020). Richins (2020) suggests that the duration before the crisis intervention does not necessarily mean the designed crisis management technique will prevent post-traumatic stress disorder (Richins, 2020). For example, early trauma intervention does not mean a higher chance of preventing or treating the trauma. However, advocates of early crisis intervention strategies and counseling posit that the earlier the intervention, the better the benefits in terms of; psychosocial support, the opportunity to share trauma experiences, and the victims' stress and management education. In a study conducted by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), a UK body reviewed in 2002, regarding the intervention of Post-traumatic stress disorder and the body acknowledged no association between crisis intervention and trauma symptoms (Richins, 2020). However, a recent study suggested that early crisis interventions reduce symptoms and severity.

PTSD, according to the American Psychological Association, is the problem associated with extreme traumatic events such as an accident or a natural disaster (Baroi & Rozario, 2017). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder could be a result of war abuse or rape. Depending on the severity of the PTSD, intervention strategies can also be treatment options. Studies have indicated counseling as significant in reducing trauma. Notably, a study showed that female victims had significantly reduced emotional distress after counseling (Baroi & Rozario, 2017). Baroi and Rozario (2017) conducted a study on the survivors' mental state of the Rana Plaza tragedy in Bangladesh. The building collapse took the lives of over a thousand people, and over two thousand people left injured (Baroi & Rozario, 2017). A study conducted on the victims of Rana Plaza tragedy highlighted a positive impact of counseling on all aspects of PTSD (Baroi & Rozario, 2017). The victims gained from the counseling session and the PTSD significantly reduced among these participants.

Traumatic exposures result in psychological harm such as depressive disorders and behavioral implications like aggressiveness, acting out, impulsive behavior, suicidal ideation, and drug abuse (Wethington, 2008). Reaction to trauma may take a while or can be immediate. Children who have been exposed to a crisis may show fear of a repeat incidence. If the event is due to an adult, they may reflect a lack of trust towards adults (Wethington, 2008). Albeit some children appear unaffected by the crisis, long term, the events may have severe implications, both in their physical and mental health. This is why it is critical to incorporate children's effective crisis interventions (Wethington, 2008). Evidence shows that intervention strategies like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) are the most effective for reducing trauma, primarily for children who have experienced multiple traumas (Wethington, 2008). Public and private organizations that offer crisis intervention programs should consider CBT while offering children treatment (Wethington, 2008). Play therapy, also a crisis intervention strategy, was revealed to significantly reduce traumatic effects on school-going children (Wethington, 2008). A study that assessed play therapy's effectiveness as a crisis intervention strategy revealed that play theory lowered psychological harm to some degree (Wethington, 2008). Similarly, in a child's memory, trauma is stored as an image. Therefore art therapy, which involves expressive art techniques, can be a good method for resolving this trauma (Wethington, 2008). Like play, drawing can be a good way to allow traumatic events to be represented.

Conclusion

Whereas the concepts of crisis and trauma emerged centuries ago, crisis intervention strategies and crisis intervention counseling as concepts associated with the fields of psychology, counseling, social work, and nursing have emerged within the last twenty-five years. A definition appraised for trauma is that it is an emotional response that an individual has towards events that they perceive as physically and psychologically painful to them. On the other hand, crisis intervention strategies and counseling sessions are management techniques designed to reduce the damage associated with a disaster. Unmonitored, people affected by crises can undergo severe trauma or psychological distress, advancing into post-traumatic stress disorder and various other mental issues. Further, affected individuals may resort to self-harming tendencies and may even inflict pain on them; through agitations and unhinged scenarios like sexual assault. These consequences highlight the reasons why crisis intervention is vital in individuals who have experienced traumatic events. It helps mitigate such risks to either oneself or others. Therefore, based on these facts, crisis intervention strategies should also be included in the community, incorporated in workplaces, and the exiting research. Post-event health surveillance should also be contemplated in the aftermath of major incidents. The one-session crisis intervention is useful because, unlike the traditional psychiatry methods, it treats post-psych crisis symptoms of trauma such as anxiety and depressive tendencies. However, in medical settings like the one-session intervention, studies reveal that medical crisis intervention effectively mitigates trauma. Children are also the unfortunate victims of trauma.