CRISIS

What is CRISIS?

Critical Incident Stress Integration & Support (CRISIS) is a psychosocial system of helping people when they have experienced a potentially overwhelming incident/event or situation.

CRISIS provides an immediate and effective response to stress and trauma, helping to prevent a decline into poor metal health and supporting resilience.

The psychosocial nature of the CRISIS system means that ordinary people can be trained as Facilitators, in order to help other people in their organisations or social groups, providing immediate and effective help.

In short, CrISIS Facilitators provide a supportive and humane response to the emotional and psychological needs of a fellow human beings when something bad has happened to them.

Who delivers CRISIS?

CRISIS Facilitators don’t have to be clinically trained therapists or counsellors.

Rather, they are caring professionals, peers and volunteers who can demonstrate trustworthiness, discretion and non-judgmental values, and are suitably placed to support colleagues, clients and dependents in difficult times.

When can CRISIS be used?

CRISIS can be used by trained Facilitators upon first contact with someone in distress or crisis.

Uniquely, it can be facilitated both during and following a critical incident, and also to provide ongoing support.

CRISIS facilitators are able to spot the signs of traumatic reactions, and have the skills with which to provide effective support right there on the spot.

What is a ‘critical’ incident?

Essentially, any event, incident, situation, or occurrence that has the potential to overwhelm a person’s natural coping abilities can be considered a ‘critical’ incident.

This definition allows us to consider life events or situations that are not usually associated with trauma. The following list illustrates typical incident types commonly associated with trauma:

Combat
Road traffic collision
Terror attack
Disaster
Sudden bereavement
Violence
Sex crime
Childhood emotional/physical/sexual abuse
Close calls

Incident types less commonly associated with trauma, but widely accepted to be destructive and distressing include, but aren’t limited to:

Financial loss
Relationship closure
Breach of trust
Bullying
Childbirth
Job loss
Serious illness
A medical procedure

This is not an exhaustive list – it must reconsider that what is ‘critical’ is unique and subjective to the individual who experiences it, and regardless of the event or incident believed to be causal in someone’s distress, CRISIS can help.

Is CRISIS a form of therapy?

No, CRISIS is a form of psychosocial support and therefore considered to be non-clinical.

The CRISIS system is simply an evidence-informed system for lay people and peers to facilitate a supportive and powerful conversations, to enhance natural recovery processes following a bad experience, and help prevent a decline into poor mental health.

CRISIS isn’t;

Counselling
Psychotherapy
Treatment
Labelling
Diagnostic
Debriefing

A key difference between CRISIS and therapy, is that CRISIS Facilitator’s do not attempt (in any way) to interpret what is happening for the person they are supporting – there is no diagnostic approach, and CRISIS Facilitator’s do not apply any form of treatment.

In what sectors is CRISIS useful?

CrISIS is useful wherever there are people, although the following sectors are areas in which CRISIS may be particularly useful;

Voluntary agencies
Business
Social services
Emergency services
Post terror/disaster recovery
Social groups
Clinical services
Local authorities
Criminal justice
Travel industry
Manufacture
Construction
Retail

What are the strengths of CRISIS?

CRISIS has many strengths, here are a few to consider;

Facilitates an immediate response for people in distress
Applicable in diverse settings
A culturally responsive peer support model
CrISIS is non-diagnostic and non-judgmental, and therefore helps reduce stigma
Evidence-informed and developed from real-world crisis situations
Theory driven, providing a solid and credible system of supporting people
CrISIS has its roots in Aristotelian philosophy, giving the system an extraordinary academic lineage
The modular system of CRISIS provides a functional and memorable model, easily applied in any crisis situation

How long does it take to train a CRISIS facilitator?

CRISIS Facilitators are initially trained over the course of a 2 Day interactive CRISIS Schema® Workshop, online or in the classroom.

Key areas of development within this workshop are;

Understanding critical incident stress and trauma
Application of the CRISIS Schema®
Communicating with individuals in crisis
Understanding and evaluating peritraumatic reactions
Interventions for individuals in crisis
Stabilising individuals in crisis
Providing information to support recovery
Providing ongoing support for individuals and options for self-support
Ethics and safeguarding.

Further Facilitator development is possible by undertaking the Group CRISIS Schema® workshop. This enables facilitators to provide effective support for groups of people, and builds upon the foundational skills of the CRISIS Schema®.

For those who wish to develop further and manage teams of CRISIS Facilitator’s, qualification is acquired through the CRISIS Coordinator® workshop.

How many delegates are allowed per workshop?

Ideally, we would look to train 10 people during our workshops.

Due the nature of the learning process, we do like to ensure that we have even numbers of delegates for partnership exercises.

How much does a CRISIS workshop cost?

As we are an ethical organisation, we apply discounts for Armed Forces Charities and voluntary Sector organisations.

Are there any extra costs?

No, there are no hidden or extra costs, however expenses may be agreed prior to delivery of a workshop if delivered in a classroom setting.

You may also wish to consider future competence through CPD days which we’re happy to discuss with you.

How can I book a CRISIS workshop?

You can get in touch with us via our contact form below or email us at info@responderresilience.com to discuss your requirements.

We’re always happy to hear from people and we’d be glad to help you or your organisation become part of our CrISIS Network.