Counseling and Crisis
Interventions
Competency 6
Module 14
Learning Outcomes
• Able to provide effective counseling to individuals and
small groups using appropriate counseling theories and
techniques.
• Apply knowledge of how to coordinate resources for
students within the school and the community.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the roles and
responsibilities of the counselor in various counseling
situations
• Apply knowledge of how to coordinate resources for
students within the school and the community
• Able to use counseling-related research techniques and
practices to address student needs
Crisis
• District School-Based Crisis
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Death of a student or staff member
Environmental Disaster
Threat to the physical well being of students and staff
Threats to the emotional well being of students and
staff
• Individual Crisis
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Personal Loss from Death or Divorce
Self Destructive Behavior
Substance Abuse
Physical or Sexual Abuse
(ASCA, n.d.)
Common Crisis Reactions
•
•
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Shock/Denial
Sadness
Feelings Numb
Rebellious Behavior at School or Home
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Fighting
Withdrawal
Attention Seeking Behavior
Poor Concentration
• Excessive Sleeping
• Loss of Appetite
• Physical Illness
– Headaches
– Stomach Aches
• Restlessness/ Disorganization
• Preoccupation with the situation
(ASCA, n.d.)
School Counselors’ Role
• Program Management
– Active counseling member of the crisis intervention team
– Assessing the intensity of the crisis for the delivery of
appropriate counseling and post-traumatic intervention
• Counseling
– Providing crisis counseling to students and staff as needed
• Consulting
– Providing information to the media
– Referring for Out-side Service
• Coordinating
– Stabilizing the school environment, and helping students return
to normalcy.
– Collaborating with parents, teachers and staff as they provide
for the students
(ASCA, n.d.)
District/School-Based Crisis
Intervention Plan
• Establish a formal team and assign roles for
– Counseling
– Coordinating
– Communication
• Develop notification protocol
– Verbal and written communication to school and community
•
•
•
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Parents
Media
Law Enforcement
Mental Health and Medical Professionals
• Assess needed services
• Identify areas to deliver counseling services
• Maintain normal school functioning as close as possible
(Anonymous, 2003)
Individual Crisis Intervention Strategies
• Family/Cognitive/Short-term Psychoanalytic
Approach
– Behavior Phase- the focus is to minimize the
behavior manifestation (psychosis, suicidal
behavior and aggression)
– Cognitive Phase- addresses familiar beliefs, ideas
and assumptions
– Emotional Phase-addresses the motives, fantasies
and anxieties
(Prout & Brown, 2005)
Individual Crisis Intervention Strategies
• Reality Therapy Model
– Identification of the facts surrounding crisis
– Evaluation of feelings related to crisis
– Describe symptoms or effects of crisis
– Teach alternative responses to the crisis
(Prout & Brown, 2005)
What should I know about counseling
and crisis intervention?
• What are school counselor’s role in crisis
intervention?
• What is the difference between
district/campus crisis and individual crisis?
References
• American School Counseling Association. (n.d.).
Crisis in the schools. Retrieved from
http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.asp?co
ntentid=533
• Anonymous. (2003). “Model for School Based
Crisis Preparedness and Intervention”. School
Crisis Response Initiative. Retrieved from
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publications/bulle
tins/schoolcrisis/pg3.html
• Prout, H.T., & Brown, D.T. (2005). Child and
adolescent counseling . Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley
& Sons, Inc.