Overview of Training in
Life Space
Crisis Intervention
Dr. Steve Parese
(336) 593-3533
What is LSCI?
Counseling Skills for
Reclaiming Troubled Youth
Caught in Self-Defeating
Patterns of Behavior
Training Options
1 day Foundation Skills in LSCI
for 30+ direct care staff &
paraprofessionals
4.5 days Advanced Training in LSCI
for up to 30 special ed teachers,
crisis counselors & clinicians
Foundation Skills
of Life Space
Intervention
Foundation Skill #1
UNDERSTANDING
DIFFERENCES IN
PSYCHOLOGICAL
WORLDS
Psychological
Difference #1
Troubled youth hold
IRRATIONAL BELIEFS
about themselves and
others.
TYPICAL SELF-DEFEATING BELIEFS
‘I’m all alone… no one
really understands
what I’m going
through, or even
cares…’
TYPICAL SELF-DEFEATING BELIEFS
‘It doesn’t matter
what I do… I always
mess it up!’
TYPICAL SELF-DEFEATING BELIEFS
‘It’s better to be the
class clown than the
class idiot…’
“Ah-Hah!”
Because troubled youth hold irrational BELIEFS, they will often
REACT irrationally to minor problems by:
DEFENDING
DENYING
InsteadBLAMING
of simply taking
RESPONSIBILITY!
RATIONALIZING
REGRESSING
Psychological
Difference #2
Troubled youth experience
CHRONIC STRESS
with greater intensity,
frequency, and duration
than helping adults.
#1 Developmental Stress
Natural changes during human
growth & development
•Going to kindergarten
•Learning to read
•Moving to a new town
•Going through puberty
#2 Psychological Stress
Individual worries and fears
•Feeling disliked by peers
•Feeling ignored by parents
•Worry about failing a test
•Concern over weight
#3 Reality Stress
Murphy’s Law: “What CAN go
wrong… WILL go wrong!”
•Missing bus on day of test
•Accidentally bumping bully
•Forgetting homework
#4 Physical Stress
Physical ailments
•Sleeplessness, hunger, cramps
•Skin disorders (acne)
•Mental illness (depression)
“Ah-Hah!”
Because troubled youth experience
CHRONIC STRESSES of greater
FREQUENCY
INTENSITY
DURATION
they will OFTEN OVERREACT
to otherwise minor problems.
Foundation Skill #2
UNDERSTANDING THE
DYNAMICS OF THE
CONFLICT CYCLE
Long’s Conflict Cycle
Irrational Beliefs
SelfStress
Situation
Defeating
Increases!
Beliefs
Feelings
Reactions
Reactions
Worsen!
Feelings
Intensify!
Behavior
Behavior
Escalates!
From Haim Ginott…
“I’ve come to the frightening
conclusion that I am the decisive
element in the classroom.
It’s MY personal approach that
creates the climate;
It’s MY daily mood that
makes the weather…
“In all situations, it is MY response
that decides whether a crisis will
be escalated or de-escalated…
or a child humanized or dehumanized.
Dr. Haim Ginott
Foundation Skill #3
DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE
INTERVIEWING
SKILLS
1. Attending Skills
2. Decoding Skills
3. Reflecting Skills
What emotions can you decode?
• Hurt
• Rejected
• Angry
Reflective Listening: Practice 3
“And then they laughed
at me and called me
FAT! The b_____es!
Why do they always
have to be so hateful?”
“It sounds like you are ___________________
about _________________________________”
Establishing a
Timeline
1. Events: What actually
happened?
2. Perceptions: What
assumptions did the
student make?
“Ah-Hah!”
Youth in crisis WANT to tell their
stories, but seldom say exactly what
they mean.
We must draw out their stories by:
ATTENTIVELY LISTENING
DECODING HIDDEN FEELINGS
REFLECTING & VALIDATING
EMOTIONS
Advanced Skills
of Life Space
Intervention
Advanced LSCI Skills
Advanced LSCI teaches staff how
to calm the emotionally distraught
student, then explore both actual
events and the youth’s “private
logic” regarding them.
Every intervention follows the
same initial of exploration of
stages.
Stages of LSCI
1: Drain Off
4: Insight
3: Central Issue
2: Timeline
5: New Skills
6: Transfer
Advanced LSCI Skills
Advanced LSCI also teaches staff how
to recognize and address six (6)
specific patterns of self-defeating
behavior.
Each pattern has its own unique
characteristics and intervention
strategies.
#1 Red Flag
Use when a stressed out student
has brought in a problem from
another setting & is TAKING IT OUT
on others, especially staff.
Goal: Recognize SOURCE of anger
and stop displacing it onto others
Typical Characteristics
Students who would benefit from
Red Flag generally:
• Have significant stress at home,
school or in personal lives
• Act out by overreacting to normal
requests, picking a fight with staff
• Quickly create massive counteraggressive feelings in staff
#2 Reality Rub
Use when an impulsive student
REMEMBERS ONLY PART of the story,
or has MISINTERPRETED someone’s
actual intentions.
GOAL: Gain a clearer perception of
real events and impact on others
Typical Characteristics
Students who would benefit from
Reality Rub often:
• Make incorrect assumptions
about what is “really going on.”
• Jump to wrong conclusions
based on partial information
• Misperceive others’ intentions
#3 New Tools
Use when a socially awkward
student is TRYING TO FIT IN or do the
right thing, and is confused by the
rejection or failure he experiences.
GOAL: Develop social skills and
social judgment to fit in better
Typical Chacteristics
Students who would benefit from
New Tools often:
• Look and act different from peers
• Have poor social skills and poor
personal hygiene
• Look to adults for primary
approval
• Have poor insight and judgment
regarding their problems
#4 Symptom Estrangement
Use when a self-centered student
feels NO CONCERN for others, and
NO RESPONSIBILITY for harmful
actions.
GOAL: Gain insight to feel guilt and
take responsibility for actions
Typical Characteristics
Students who would benefit from
Symptom Estrangement:
• Easily justify breaking rules
• Hurt others without provocation
• Motivated by power and control
• Behave antisocially without loss
of temper
#5 Massaging
Numb Values
Use when a student with low selfesteem is feeling TOO MUCH GUILT,
demeaning himself over a mistake.
GOAL: Put mistakes into better
perspective, improve self-esteem
TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Students who would benefit from
Massaging Numb Values often:
• Have low self-esteem
• Have impulse control problems
• Over-react to mistakes by
blaming themselves and making
problems worse
#6 Manipulating
Body Boundaries
I: False Friendship:
II: Set Up:
Naïve student is being
misused by a FALSE
FRIEND
Aggressive student is
being set off by a
MANIPULATIVE PEER
GOAL: Redefine “friend”
GOAL: Recognize
and respond assertively
to manipulator
manipulation and
improve self-control
MBB I: False Friendship
TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Students who would benefit from
MBB: False Friendship are often:
• Isolated or new to school
• Looking for approval/belonging
• Easily misled by others
MBB II: Set Up
TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Students who would benefit from
MBB: Set Up are often:
• Aggressive and impulsive
• Easy targets for quick-thinking
peers -- but are provoked only
when staff are around
Certification requires:
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Attend all sessions on time
Complete all in-class activities
Read LSCI textbook and articles
Pass written test of knowledge
Pass practical test of skills
• Optional: Complete 5-7 page paper
within 90 days for graduate credit in
Sped or Psych from Augustana
College
Training in LSCI includes:
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Informative mini-lectures
Real-life stories
Relevant discussions
Skillful demonstrations
Guided practice in role plays
Entertaining video examples
Competency-based testing
College credit available
Training Options
1 day Foundation Skills in LSCI
for 30+ direct care staff &
paraprofessionals
4.5 days Advanced Training in LSCI
for up to 30 special ed teachers,
crisis counselors & clinicians
Training Costs
1 day Foundation Skills in LSCI
$150/person or $2,000 flat fee
for 30+ staff (mat included)
4.5 days Advanced Training in LSCI
$495/person or $7,500 flat fee
for up to 30 staff (+ $125 materials)
*Minimum 10 people, travel expenses additional
4.5 day training need not be consecutive days
Contact information
Dr. Steve Parese
Senior Trainer, LSCI Institute
PO Box 336 Danbury, NC 27016
(336) 593-3533
www.TACT2.com
SBParese@aol.com