Crisis Counselor Skills

Grief is defined as a type of emotional or mental suffering from a loss, sorrow, or regret (Dictionary.com, LLC, 2010). Grief affects people of all ages, races, and sexes around the world. Approximately, 36% of the world’s population does or has suffered from grief and only a mere 10% of these people will seek out help (Theravive, 2009). Once a person is suffering from grief it is important to receive treatment. All too often, people ignore grief resulting in deep depression, substance abuse, and other disorders (Theravive, 2009). Grief counseling is very common and can be very helpful to a person in need of assistance. Grief counseling provides the support, understanding, and

Crisis is a term defined as a disruption in an individual(s) or family's normal routine of functioning (DSHS, 2013). The main cause of a crisis can be very stressful and traumatic. Crisis for one individual may not be a crisis for another individual. According to DSHS, there are three elements that make up a crisis: a stressful situation, difficulty in coping, and the timing of the intervention (2013). Crisis can range from a minor event such as failing a class needed for graduation, to major life changes such as a death in the family or getting a divorce. Crisis intervention is a way to identify when an individual(s) is not coping properly. Everstine and Everstine describes crisis intervention as the “form of psychological help, that is focused on therapeutic contact, concentrated on the problem, that caused the crisis, limited in time, when the person is confronted with the crisis and has to solve it. That kind of help let us reduce the crisis response and minimize functional impairment” (2006).

Problems resulting from disasters linger for quite some time after the acute phase in a disaster and victims may have issues arise that they were not aware of initially. Community health nurses are often a primary point of contact for many of these situations and must be prepared for various problems. Sometimes, they are called on to simply reassure the victim that they are not alone in the situation and that help will continue to come. When a nurse allows a victim to discuss their concerns, the nurse can quickly expedite referrals to the appropriate area if it is out of their scope of practice. Occasionally, just having the validation and reassurance from a professional instills hope that things will get better soon. In the situation where the

In the event of a disaster, the community relies upon the public health personnel to evaluate the needs of the community, assess the available resources, provide reliable information, and coordinate health activities. It is essential that local health workers are trained professionals who are reassuring and organized to address health, social, cultural and material concerns of the community. Local health personnel coordinate social services, transportation, available health services, volunteers, outside assistance, public utilities and rescue work (HELP, 1989).

To begin, there are many aspects of helping patients that are dealing with grief, loss, death, or dying. Whether the patient has lost someone that was close to them or they themselves are dying, the situation is quite fragile. Some important aspects that may help when handling these patients are knowledge about the different cultures and their beliefs and traditions, different factors that have an impact on grief, and how to communicate with people living on the edge of life. These are all extremely important matters when it comes to such a sensitive situation.

Death is a part of life and eventually everyone on this earth will experience it. Nurses play an important role in death. Mourning the death of a loved one is something that almost everyone will experience in this lifetime because it is a natural response to death. Bereavement, grief and mourning are all effected by one’s culture, religion, the relationship with the deceased, personality, and how the person died.

By listening and being socially supportive for individuals who experienced a significant loss is very important. Also, our society should give people a significant amount of time off to spend with family and cope with the death of a loved one. I believe people need to be more empathetic when interacting with individual’s who lost a loved one.

Man-made and natural disasters are traumatic to both the client and to the counselor. Oftentimes, the counselor is also feeling the

Many of you are reading this manual as part of your efforts to prepare as a spiritual care professional who will be ready to respond during times of disaster. Your main role will be to provide emotional and spiritual support to those affected by disaster, but it is also critical for you to understand the context in which you will be providing this support—the bigger picture, so to speak.

“There is no greater gift you can give someone in grief than to ask them about their loved one and then really listen!” I read this quote once when I was small from the diary of quotable quotes collected by my grandfather. At that time, I was too young to understand what the words ‘really listen’ meant. But now in this process of training to become a counsellor, I am experiencing what it means to ‘really listen’ and how powerful it is!

Fritz, Charles. Disasters and Mental Health: Therapeutic Principles Drawn from Disaster Studies. Disaster Research Center, University of Delaware, 1996.

Whenever a disaster strikes an unsuspecting community, from natural weather events like hurricanes and tornadoes to the manmade catastrophes caused by contamination, local community health nurses become a lifeline for stricken victims, providing medical care, basic sanitation, and nutritional sustenance. While treating the ailments of the sick and dressing the wounds of the injured are the chief priorities for any nursing professional, community health nurses typically administer care within a close-knit population group, and this familiarity often requires the offering of spiritual support as well. The immediate aftermath of any major disaster, whether natural or manmade, is a chaotic time when panic, fear, and uncertainty can easily run rampant, and community health nurses must prepare themselves to handle the nonmedical aspects of assisting patients through their recovery. Setting aside one's personal views on organized religion or faith, alleviating a patient's outward symptoms can only be effective to a certain point when they are grieving for the sudden loss of a loved one, or contemplating an uncertain future after their property and

New York State Office of Mental Health has put out a field manual on Grief Counseling within this guide I found a quote, “’So there is no way to apply systems, rules or emotional road maps. Our job is to be a presence, rather than a savior. A companion, rather than a leader. A friend, rather than a teacher.’ from John Welshons’s book entitled Awakening from Grief page 159” (Roy & Amyot, 2004). This quote encompasses everything I believe to be true about bereavement counselors. Through the act of companioning we do many things but two of the key ones are 1) actively listening to them and 2) helping them understand and recognize their reactions to this grief they’re experiencing. Furthermore, we must remember to provide those grieving with validation that what they are feeling is real and ok. It’s our role as

Grief Counseling Center provides mental health services for a diversified clientele. Clientele ranges from young children to senor citizens and consist of various cultures and nationalities. Professionally trained therapists, facilitators, and volunteers, who have a passion to help others, will serve at GCC. Market research shows that while there are many

I will review the research article, “Service Characteristics and Counseling Outcomes: Lessons from a Cross-Site Evaluation of Crisis Counseling After Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma”. I found this to be of interest, one because of the trauma piece, two because the increase in natural disasters, and three because of the little empirical and systematic information around program assumptions. The researchers evaluated hypotheses, testing multiple factors that influence program performance. The study concluded with results yielding recommendations for achieving effective and beneficial crisis counseling / disaster relief mental health programs.