Therapeutic Crisis Intervention for Schools (TCIS)
Active Listening
● You feel ___ because ___.
● Minimal encouragements, “uh-huh”, “go on”, “I see…”
● Door openers, “I’d like to hear more”, “Tell me about that”
● Closed questions; yes or no answers, “Do you like your teacher?”
● Open questions, “How did you respond?”, “What happened next?”
Behavior Support Techniques
● Manage the environment
● Prompting
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Caring gesture
Hurdle help
Redirection and distraction
Emotional First Aid
● Drain off emotions
● Clarify events
● Maintain the relationship and lines of communication
● Remind the student of expectations and mediate the
situation
Crisis Co-Regulation
● What to think
○ Self-awareness; ask the four questions
1. What am I feeling?
2. What is the student feeling, thinking, or
needing?
3. What is going on in the environment?
4. How do I respond?
● What to do
○ Take a deep breath
○ Use protective stance
○ Step back
● What to say
○ Very little!
○ Remember importance of tone of voice
○ Understanding responses
■ I can see… (validate feelings)
■ When you… (encourage positive
behaviors)
■ I know we… (emphasize desirable
outcomes)
■ I am sorry… (offer an apology)
Life Space Interview (LSI)
1. Isolate the conversation
2. Explore the student’s point of view
3. Summarize feelings and content
4. Connect feelings to behavior
5. Alternative behaviors discussed
6. Plan development / practice new behavior
7. Enter student back into the routine (restorative component)
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Proximity
Directive statements
Time away