Midterm Study Guide Flashcards
“Crisis” is derived from which Greek word?
Krisis
What does the Greek word “krisis” mean?
Decision or turning point
What symbols does the Chinese word for “crisis” come from?
Combination of the symbols for “danger” and “opportunity”
What happens when a crisis continues without assistance or with lack of resources?
Builds on itself leading to lower and lower functioning
How many ACEs for someone to be likely to be crisis-prone?
4, 5, or more
What expectation can we not have when considering the ACE study?
Expectation that the person will respond to the world the same way that we would
What are examples of material resources?
Money, food, shelter, transportation, clothing
Who is known for the hierarchy of needs?
Maslow
What will happen if one’s needs are not met?
Will continue in crisis
What are examples of personal resources?
Physical well-being, ego strength, structure
What are examples of social resources?
Family, friends, church, work, school
What are the steps to conceptualizing a crisis?
1) A precipitating event occurs
2) A person has a perception of the event as threatening or damaging
3) This perception leads to emotional distress
4) The emotional distress leads to impairment in functioning due to failure of an individual’s usual coping methods that previously have prevented a crisis from occurring
What step of conceptualizing a crisis is the most crucial part to identify?
The perception of the event
Why is the perception of the event the most crucial part to identify?
It is the part that is most readily altered by the counselor
What is demand?
The environment’s requirement for a response by the system
What does research show is the most important factor when it comes to demand?
Perceived Environmental Demand (PED)
What is coping?
The system’s response to the environmental demand
What does research show is the most important factor when it comes to coping?
Perceived Coping Resources (PCR)
What is stress?
Perceived Environmental Demands (PED) = Perceived Coping Resources (PCR)
What is crisis?
Perceived Environmental Demands (PED) significantly exceeds Perceived Coping Resources (PCR) and normal coping resources deteriorate
What is trauma?
Perceived Environmental Demands (PED) so significantly exceeds Perceived Coping Resources (PCR) that coping resources deteriorate and basic schemas are destroyed
What is dissociation?
Our brain trying to keep us sane; the world doesn’t make sense, and one will do whatever one can to make the world make sense
What happens over time as the Perceived Environmental Demands (PED) increases?
Moves from coping to stress point to crisis point to trauma point
What are the problems included in the triage model?
Green problem, yellow problem, red problem
What is the green problem?
Problems that cannot be helped
What are examples of the green problem?
Pregnancy, affair, DUI, terminal illness
What is the yellow problem?
Problems that can wait
What are examples of the yellow problem?
Afraid to tell parents, need to call a lawyer
What is the red problem?
Must be addressed to reduce crisis
What are examples of the red problem?
Suicidality, homicidality, substance use, STI, depression/anxiety, safety
What are the steps of the ABC model of crisis intervention?
A - achieve rapport
B - boiling down the problem to basics/identifying the problem
C - coping - exploring client’s own attempts at coping and introducing alternative coping behaviors
What are characteristics of a crisis?
An event or multiple events which are perceived as…
- Happening suddenly or unexpectedly
- Arbitrary and somewhat unstructured
- Requiring more than available coping resources
- Potentially dangerous to some element of a person’s life-space
- Posing the threat of exacerbation of a person’s maladaptive coping responses
What is the option that a crisis offers an individual?
Growth, adaptation, and strengthening of coping response
What are the goals of crisis management?
- Attempt to return client to pre-crisis functioning
- Emotional first aid to stop the emotional bleeding
- Increase perceived coping resources and options
- Realistic assessment of demands of crisis events
- Increase in viability and desirability of available options
- Problem management (not resolution) of immediate short-term demands and plans for eventually addressing long-term issues at a later date
- Final problem resolution is delayed for a reasonable period
- Facilitation of future client services with traditional forms of counseling
- Present evidence of the pragmatic effectiveness of crisis intervention to client
What are characteristics of crisis management when compared to traditional counseling?
- Every minute may count
- The immediate “stakes” of an effective intervention to an immediate problem are paramount
- Stop the downward spiral
- Counselor’s expectation for problem resolution
- Immediate, accurate assessment
- Stress level in session is immediately high
What are characteristics of traditional counseling when compared to crisis management?
- No particular time crunch
- Effectiveness is not as immediate
- Waiting for client to “hit bottom”
- Client resolves problem with counselor’s assistance
- Assessment may be delayed
- Stress levels tend to be more moderate
What happened in the 1940s in the history of crisis counseling?
Establishment of Wellesley Project after Boston’s Coconut Grove Fire
What happened in the 1960s in the history of crisis counseling?
Crisis intervention trend gives rise to suicide prevention movement
What is the Community Mental Health Act of 1963?
- Came directly from President Kennedy
- Rise of effective psychotropic medication leads to closure of psychiatric institutions and support through community mental health centers; did not work out that way
- Patients were sent to jail
What happened in the 1970s in the history of crisis counseling?
Trend towards de-medicalization of community mental health care
What happened in the 1980s in the history of crisis counseling?
Rise of managed care
What is the role of non-professionals, volunteers, and paraprofessionals?
Vital in providing services to client populations (ethical with appropriate supervision by trained professionals)
What kind of state do clients in crisis come to counselor in?
A vulnerable state of disequilibrium and instability
What are some ethical issues to consider in crisis counseling?
- 1013 - involuntary transportation
- Diagnosis/misdiagnosis
- Multicultural competence
- Fraud
- Competence/supervision/consultation
- Self-awareness
- Dual relationships
- Confidentiality
- Informed consent
What are the exceptions to privilege and confidentiality?
- Danger to self or others
- Abuse or neglect of older adults
- Abuse or neglect of children
- Abuse or neglect of people with disabilities
What is multicultural competence?
Counselors must not impose personal values on clients, but instead be aware of how their values may be part of the problems that exist
How does rehabilitation counseling relate to crisis?
Particularly prone to seeing clients in crisis; normal part of adapting to rehabilitation needs
How does school counseling relate to crisis?
Unique features because of the school’s social structure and the sense of community (culture) within the school
What is the professional school counselor’s primary role in crisis?
Provide direct counseling service during and after an incident
What should one know prior to seeing their first crisis client?
The specific steps and procedures within their school or agency for crisis intervention
What should one use in order to not feel the need to make major decisions alone?
Supervision and consultation
How should a counselor judge the severity of the crisis?
By the client’s reactions, not some isolated event which “triggered” the crisis
What is a “centered” counselor?
Blocks the exacerbation of contagious emotions, such as anger, helplessness, hopelessness, depression, and anxiety
What is the prime goal of crisis intervention?
Clarity
When are many poor decisions made?
Before clarifying the problem, its options, and its potential consequences
How is a good crisis counselor creative?
In outlook and problem solving style
Why are most clients’ creative coping and problem solving limited?
- Cognitive rigidity
- Dichotomous thinking
- Poor perceived and/or actual problem solving skills
- A number of cognitive distortions
What is escape syndrome?
When anxious individuals are highly motivated to do anything to terminate an anxious situation rather than resolving it
What is bite-the-bullet syndrome?
When some clients want total resolution of their crisis now, when that is just not possible
How does a crisis counselor assist in the outcome of a crisis?
May not always end in a successful outcome; assists in creating the possibility of a resolution; actual outcome is affected by myriad of factors far beyond the counselor’s control
What type of crisis counselors do not last long?
Control-oriented and achievement-needing crisis counselors
What does an effective crisis counselor create during crisis?
An “eye” in the midst of the hurricane so that a temporary respite occurs
Why is a clear, concise contract (verbal and/or written) important?
For safety and problem solving between client and counselor
What is at the root of all suffering?
The search for meaning
What are some characteristics of the “crisis prone client”?
- General chronic psychosocial instability
- Poor expression of social interests
- Low perceived sources of social support
- Low impulse control and/or little long-term problem solving style
- Financial pressures
- Substance abuse issues
- Various forms of associated mental difficulties
- Prolonged medical concerns
What are some characteristics of the “crisis client”?
- Strong sense of urgency in the client’s life
- Overt and covert signs of lower coping
- Press of perceived demands
- Indicators of impending stress breakdown
- High levels of dysfunctional problem solving
What are some life events that precipitate a crisis?
- Accident in home/car/work
- Legal entanglement
- Job and/or career disruption
- Sudden/unexpected major financial burden
- Threat of disruption of significant intimate family relationships
- Physical illness and/or mental difficulties
- Natural disaster/war/famine
- Alteration of family structure
- Sanctions or penalty for non-successful performance
What are the 8 fears that are nearly always a concern to individuals dealing with medical crisis?
- Fear of loss of control
- Fear of loss of self-image
- Fear of dependency
- Fear of stigma
- Fear of abandonment
- Fear of expressing anger
- Fear of isolation
- Fear of death
What should a novice crisis counselor do instead of rushing to fix the crisis?
Use their basic skills; calm the client and complete a thorough assessment
What do veteran counselors do when facing a crisis?
Communicate empathy and hope first, then move to intervene
What should a counselor do because it will not exacerbate the problem?
Ask the client directly about the issue
What are the two things that be gin to slow a crisis down?
- The recognition of viable options
- The availability of social and instrumental resources
What are the stages of a client crisis?
- Impact
- Coping
- Withdrawal
- Adjustment
What happens in the impact stage of a client crisis?
Initial reactions to what is an unavoidable and apparently insurmountable problem
What are common reactions to the impact stage of a client crisis?
- Learned helplessness
- Anxiety, frustration, anger
- Agitated depression
What is learned helplessness?
Belief that efforts will have no effect in producing desired outcomes or preventing undesirable events
What does learned helplessness lead to?
Deficits in motivation, cognition, and emotion
What happens in the coping stage of a client crisis?
Individual exerts mental and behavior effort to address demands that seem to exceed resources
What does failure to grasp solution create in the coping stage of a client crisis?
Feelings of urgency to decrease pressure and increase motivation
What does increased motivation lead to in the coping stage of a client crisis?
- Trying new problems-solving strategies
- Openness to influence of others
- More likely to seek help
- If help is not available, may “cry for help” via suicide attempts
What is emotion-focused coping?
Attempts to reduce distressing feelings; leads to increased emotional distress and unrelated to successful problem resolution
What are some examples of emotion-focused coping?
- Problem and emotion distorted, denied, or repressed
- Restricted viewpoints and unbending attitudes
- Avoidance through drug and alcohol use
- Psychological problems become physical problems