Crisis Counseling
in Middle and High
Schools:
Role of the school
counselor
Presenters
Professor Robert Stevenson, Ed.D.
Professor Arthur McCann, Ph.D.
Mercy College
School of Behavioral and Social Sciences
Graduate Counseling Programs
Presentation Objectives
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Define a crisis (personal vs. group)
Clarify definitions of terms
Lifecycle of a crisis
Identifying the counselor’s role in assisting:
Students
 Faculty
 Administration
 Community
 Ourselves
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What is a Crisis?
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PERSONAL – A perception or
experiencing of an event or
situation as an intolerable difficulty
that exceeds the person’s current
resources and coping
mechanisms.
GROUP – A situation that holds
the potential for either disaster or
opportunity.
Reaction to Personal Crisis
Individuals in crisis can:
 Cope by themselves and grow
stronger from the experience
 Survive the immediate crisis, but
block it from consciousness
leading to future problems
 Break down from the crisis –
putting life on hold unless they
receive immediate assistance
Crisis Management Life Cycle
Prepare
Mitigate
Respond
Recover
Crisis Characteristics
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Every crisis is complicated
The disequilibrium of crisis
provides impetus for change (+/-)
Brief therapy can help – but it
treats the symptoms, not the cause
Choice is essential
Crisis is “universal” because no
one is immune.
Crisis is time limited (6-8 weeks).
Operational Definitions
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CRISIS – a serious or decisive state where an
action will have positive or negative
consequences.
CRISIS COUNSELING – a process that has as its
focus the emotional ramifications of a crisis.
CRISIS INTERVENTION – steps to address the
immediate problem using a variety of resources.
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CRISIS PREVENTION – a process for reducing acute,
emotional upset. This may involve examination of
coping behaviors, resources and developing
assessment skills.
CRISIS PREPARATION – A plan of development and
training that develops positive attitudes and skills
among all members of a school community.
CRISIS POSTVENTION – process for “damage”
assessment and recovery.
Planning for Crisis Management
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Ask the right questions (what, where, when,
how and, in some cases, why)
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Identify precipitating events
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Establish goals and operational definitions
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Create a crisis response plan with clearly
identified steps
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Create and implement response protocols
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Begin ongoing evaluation and mitigation
Assigning “Meaning”
It is important for a counselor to understand the
meaning a person assigns to an event or an
emotion. These can be seen as any of the following:
• A Challenge – to be overcome
•
•
•
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A Loss – making change difficult or impossible
A Gain – a sign that one is working to maximum
ability
A Punishment – penance for not doing something
right (or for doing something wrong) in the past
A Reality – to be assessed and dealt with so that it
can be reduced to an acceptable level
Assessment Triage
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Affect:
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Behavior:
Anger/Hostility
Fear/Anxiety
Sadness/Melancholy
Approach
Avoidance
Immobility
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Cognition:
Transgression (present)
Threat (future)
Loss (past)
Crisis Intervention Models
The chosen model needs to assess and address:
 Equilibrium – disequilibrium creates a need to
regain stability
 Cognition – faulty thinking may need to be
changed
 Psychosocial Transition – internal and social
change may create a need for new internal
coping mechanisms that are adequate to the
demands of the crisis
Six Step Model of Crisis Intervention
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Assessing (throughout counseling)
Listening 1. Define the problem
2. Ensure client safety
3. Provide support
Acting 4. Examine alternatives
5. Make plans
6. Obtain Commitment
Assessment “A–B–C”
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Affect – abnormal or impaired
affect is a sign of disequilibrium
Behavior – immobility impairs
behavior so doing something
concrete helps forward movement
Cognitive state – has the crisis
been made worse by rationalizing,
exaggerating or faulty belief(s)
LISTEN for:
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Open-ended questions
Closed-ended questions
Owning feelings
Disowned statements
Conveying understanding
Value judgments
Positive reinforcement
Empathy, genuineness, acceptance
Taking Action:
See individual differences
 Assess yourself
 Acknowledge client safety
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Provide client support
 Define the problem
 Consider alternatives
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Plan action steps
 Use client coping strengths
 Attend to client’s immediate needs
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Use referrals (when appropriate)
 Develop and use networks
 Get a commitment
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The Counselor’s Role:
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Listen to concerns
Assess safety needs
Make owning and assertive
statements about the your role
Deal with current client functioning
concretely and objectively
Speak clearly, in the present, about
the problem
Take immediate, direct action to
restore mobility and equilibrium
School Counselor Interventions with Grieving Students
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Be proactive in providing help.
Encourage student to get help from family and friends.
Encourage self-care ( exercise, rest and healthy diet.)
Listen without judging.
Encourage talking about loss, while being mindful of the
stages of grief (denial or shock, fear, anger, guilt, depression
or sadness, and acceptance.)
Invite sharing of memories.
Encourage talking about loss.
Invite sharing of memories.
Encourage resumption of normal activities.
(Source: List 7.18 Dealing with Grief and Loss in The School
Counselor’s Book of Lists, second edition)
The School Counselor’s Role in Helping
Teachers When a Student Dies
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When speaking with bereaved parents, be supportive, only give
suggestions when requested, ask what they would like shared with
other students.
Offer to visit class to tell students what happened.
Prepare the teacher (or offer to collaborate) regarding how to tell
classmates.
Match information with the students’ developmental ability to
understand.
Give the message that life is precious and precarious.
If death is by suicide, do not glorify and do not try to explain why.
Be truthful, honest and accepting.
Coordinate follow up steps with teacher and administrator.
Inform the faculty in the may the parents or guardians desire.
Pay special attention to siblings and special friends.
(Source: List 7.20 Dealing with Grief and Loss in The School
Counselor’s Book of Lists, second edition)
Surviving and Moving On
Help the student to:
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Accept the loss(es).
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Be aware of feelings
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Externalize emotions.
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Draw on personal beliefs.
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Understand negative coping
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Utilize every resource (because there
is seldom one correct answer to most
of the questions that arise)
Preventing “Compassion Fatigue”
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Compassion - A “feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for
another who is stricken by suffering or misfortune,
accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the pain or
remove its cause.” (Webster’s, 1989, p.229).
Compassion Fatigue - (aka, secondary traumatic stress,
nearly identical to PTSD, vicarious traumatization) - This is
similar to emotional contagion, “…defined as an affective
process in which an individual observing another person
experiences emotional responses parallel to that person’s
actual or anticipated emotions.” ( Figley, 2002)
Compassion Satisfaction – Stamm (2002) has identified this
as a protective factor, a positive side of compassion that
counterbalances the negative. She developed a Compassion
Satisfaction and Fatigue (CSF)Test to help estimate risk of
burn out and compassion fatigue.
Preventing “Compassion Fatigue” cont’d
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Develop our capacity for humor.
Gain a sense of achievement and satisfaction from setting
achievable work standards.
Acquire adequate rest and relaxation.
Develop and regularly incorporate an array of stress reduction
methods into our repertoire.
Let go of work.
Apply Critical incident stress debriefings and stress
management (CISD/M ) plans and actions as needed when
crises arise.
(Source: Treating Compassion Fatigue edited by Charles R.
Figley, 2002)
Empowering Objects
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AMULET – an object (such as a
horseshoe) that wards off evil.
TALISMAN- an object that
enables the one who possesses it
to accomplish great deeds.
In some cases, one object may serve
as both amulet and talisman.
Filling Your Bag of Tricks
Explaining “change”
A Lens
Overcoming obstacles
Levitation
Dealing with feelings
Bulletin Board / Tennis
Coping with stress
A Worry Stone
Creating a Safe Place
Ernie, Bert & Theodore
Overcoming Helplessness
Candy Bear
Words as Talisman
Quotation Posters
Giving form to fear and coping How Big Is Your Dragon?
Resources
Blum, D.J. and Davis, T.E. (2010). The School Counselor’s Book of Lists, 2nd edition, San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) http://training.fema.gov/IS/
Figley, C.R., ed. (2002). Treating Compassion Fatigue, New York , NY: Brunner-Routledge.
James, R. K. and Gilliland, B. K. (2004). Crisis Intervention Strategies 5th edition, Brooks/Cole.
Stevenson, R. G., ed. (2002).What will we do? Preparing the school community to cope with crises, 2nd
edition, Baywood Publishing.
Stevenson, R.G. and Cox, G. ed. (2007). Perspectives on Violence and Violent Death Amityville, NY:
Baywood Publishing.