Crisis Intervention Strategies in Counseling

Abstract

People are in a stage of crisis when they perceive "an event or situation as an intolerable difficulty that exceeds (their) resources and coping mechanisms" (Gilliland & James, 1997). Solutions that have worked before are no longer sufficient. The difficulty involves one or more life goals that the person fears are being blocked. As tension and anxiety over the inability to resolve the problem increase, the person becomes less and less able to find a solution. He or she feels helpless, upset, shamed, guilty, and unable to act on his or her own to reach a resolution. Counselors cannot determine what constitutes a crisis for their clients by assessing whether the event would cause crisis in their own lives. Certain events, such as the loss of a person's entire family in a fire or a violent war experience, are highly likely to precipitate a crisis, regardless of the person coping skills or support systems, because they are so traumatic.