Many people would agree that we, as American’s, are facing multiple crisis. No matter your political affiliation and social/cultural perceptions, we are facing crises on the health, social, economic, and political front. COVID 19 had drastically changed the way we work, go to school, socialize, and interact with one another. We face so many restrictions geared towards keeping us safe while decreasing our mental well-being. We are incredibly social creatures and contact with our friends and family, hugging, handshakes, and face to face dialogues are deeply healing. Moreover, we are fatigued. Fatigued from being in a hypervigilant state when we do interact with others, watch the rising cases, and simply going about our day to day. Some people can continue to safely self-quarantine at home, while many others, out of financial necessity, cannot. Our health crisis has undoubtedly impacted our mental health as depression and anxiety rises. It is imperative that we as individuals and as a collective take care of ourselves and each other physically and mentally. It is important to seek out health and not be afraid to talk with someone who can navigate the uncertainty and unrest.
Individuals in crisis, from a mental health perspective, may encounter drastic changes in personality, behavior, and spirituality. A crisis can take many forms including but is not limited to a natural disaster, sexual assault, intimate partner violence, substance use, abuse, and withdrawal from substances, suicide attempts, homicide, etc. A crisis can occur in many different settings as well, including schools, places of employment, criminal justice settings, residences etc. Ginter, 1995; Miller, 2008; Miller & Miller, 2011; Sandoval, 2002). We are facing crisis on multiple fronts with COVID 19, social, and political unrest. If layered upon these existing crisis other traumas, individuals will need mental health care.
A primary first step for a mental health clinician is to meet the client where they are and have a firm understanding of the client’s safety (e.g., physical safety if resulting from a natural disaster, hurting self or someone else). After safety is assessed and ensured, having a clear understanding of what triggered the crisis is also critical. Understanding the nature of the crisis can assist the mental health counselor consider additional assessments and appropriate treatment. With a general framework, using the BASIC assessment (Behavioral, Affective, Somatic, Interpersonal, and Cognitive) would be an ideal assessment to use if time permitted (Slaikeu, 1990). If a counselor has prior knowledge of the source of trauma he/she can incorporate assessments directly related to the crisis, trauma, and/or natural disaster.
In terms of treatment, many approaches related to theory (e.g., psychoanalytic, brief, grief, solution focused, positive psychology, motivational interviewing, etc.) exist (Miller & Miller, 2011). However, selecting the appropriate treatment for the clients with the understanding of the client’s age, developmental appropriateness, trauma history, current diagnosis etc. is essential. Normalizing a client’s experience is critical. In addition, in crisis situations, counselors are often not physically with client’s for extended amounts of times or even available for multiple sessions, thus the techniques utilized are short-term intervention techniques (Miller & Miller, 2011). Having strong skills related to psychological first aid to assist he client’s return to normal functioning is imperative (Slaikeu, 1990).
Crisis intervention can be challenging and is not for everyone. Counselors who engage regularly is crisis work need to take care of themselves to ensure that they are able to continue to provide equitable and quality services. If you are someone you care for is experiencing a crisis or multiple traumas, please seek out help as soon as possible.
References
Dingman, R. L., & Ginter, E. J. (1995). Disasters and crises: The role of mental health counseling. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 17(3), 259.
Miller, L. (2008). Counseling crime victims : Practical strategies for mental health professionals. New York : Springer
Miller, G., & Miller, G. (2011). Fundamentals of crisis counseling. ProQuest Ebook Central https://ebookcentral.proquest.com
Sandoval, J. (2002). Handbook of crisis couseling, interventions, and preventions in the schools. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers
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