Understanding and Responding to Crisis Sandra Rupnarain Family Connection Centre Counselling Education & Research Phone 416 741 4982 - email:evalis@rogers.com

CRISIS Danger and Opportunity   Danger and Opportunity The two Chinese characters displayed above together mean “crisis”: one symbol is for danger and the other for opportunity. Crisis can be understood the same way: both as a danger and an opportunity. Thus, crisis itself is not bad; it is what one does with it that makes a difference

Dynamics of a Crisis Experience How Crisis Happens Dynamics of a Crisis Experience

Dynamics of a Crisis Experience

Small Group Discussion Remember a time when you or someone close to you experienced a crisis. How did you know you/they were in crisis? What were the feelings? How did you/they try to deal with the crisis? What helped to resolve the crisis? If you/they talked to someone what did that person do that helped? What steps could you, take in helping a person through a crisis? What coping mechanisms would people in your culture use in a crisis situation? Who would become involved?

The Process of Transition and the Cycle of Feelings and Crisis Crisis and Transition The Process of Transition and the Cycle of Feelings and Crisis

The Process of Transition

What Constitutes a Crisis  Roberts (1990) describes a crisis as having three main ingredients: A precipitating event that effects a client The client’s belief that the event will be stressful or disrupting A lack of effective coping strategies – i.e. the coping strategies that have worked in the past will not work this time.

First Crisis Phase The first crisis phase is usually not experienced as such, rather, it is experienced as a rise in tension or stress level, generally associated with some external happening. The external event may, or may not be unpleasant but the person must mobilize some resources do something different than usual in order to deal with it. The system is working if the new coping strategy is adequate, and a crisis may be averted.

The Second Crisis Phase The second crisis phase is inevitable if the strategies do not work. These is more tension, a general sense that nothing can be done about the problem and a sense that the person is getting way over their head. If all is failing the individual will begin to initiate emergency action.

The Third Crisis Phase The third crisis phase is the “Big Push” accessing everything that they know to deal with the problem. If it works then the person will return to the altered yet pre-crisis stage. Here the crisis was not averted but is dealt with and is now past.

The Fourth Crisis Phase If the “Big Push” does not work the person moves into the fourth crisis phase – there is still greater tension, sense of helplessness, feelings of inadequacy, disorientation, disorganization, loss of control, and confusion

Entering In You may enter in at this point – this is the phase you are more likely to see and ask to enter in. This fourth phase is the acute crisis phase marked by the breakdown of the person’s coping mechanisms. All their emergency coping systems, all known strategies and mechanisms have broken down, tensions have peaked and disorganization has stepped in.

Common Features of the (The Fourth Phase) This active crisis phase is generally self-limiting, changing in some way within one to five weeks. People simply cannot sustain a crisis longer that this

Common Features of the (The Fourth Phase) Second the nature of that change will depend on what is done during the final phase rather than what has happened on the past.

Common Features of the (The Fourth Phase) Finally people in active crisis tend to experience an increased desire to be helped by others, and to be more willing to accept that help than in other stages of crisis. Equally if in their help seeking they are not responded to appropriately it can develop into a “situation” What do I mean when I say situation?

Summary of the Fourth Phase All these characteristics of acute crisis point towards the importance of moving quickly, respectfully and skillfully in a crisis intervention manner. There is a relatively short time during which: The crisis will continue to be acute. Present action will have the greatest effect. The client will be most open to being helped.

Empathy    Empathy is an active process where you listen for the feelings of another in order to understand their condition or state of mind. It is the art of listening and carefully paying attention to the individual and their concerns.  It is to feel what it is like to be them and put that experience into words.

Empathy  Empathy gives permission for people to feel safe to share their feelings openly. To be able to successfully empathize depends on your willingness to walk with another, put aside your own perspective and take on their perspective

Empathy To empathize is to truly be there for someone else. Empathy is not sympathy. Sympathy attempts to console or reassure. Sympathy takes some power away from the speaker.   .

The Purpose of Empathy The purpose of empathy is to help people get more in touch with their feelings, thoughts and personal history. Providing empathetic listening allows people to: re-claim their voice; feel respected; discover meaning as it unfolds for them; let them set the pace and flow of the conversation

The Purpose of Empathy Allows people to choose their comfort level, what they want to talk about; Allows them to talk out feelings and thoughts they have suppressed for a long time; Allows them to talk out feelings and thoughts without fear of being judged (“you should get over it and move on”); Helps them regain a sense of that they are in charge of their lives, and that they deserve to be heard;

Tools & Skills to Demonstrate Empathy Responding with the words: “You feel….”; “You sound…”. Responding with non-directive questions, i.e. “How do you feel?”, “How does this make you feel?”, “What can you do?”, “What has worked for you in the past?” Clarifying questions, i.e. “Do I hear you saying…?”, “I am not sure if I understood…”; Paraphrasing questions, i.e. In your words you….”, “As you see it…”;

Tools & Skills to Demonstrate Empathy AVOID the following: Asking “WHY”, Saying: “You should”, Using closed questions (“Did you…, have you…”) as they only allow for a YES or NO response. Paying undivided attention to the individual listening to his/her feelings as it may be the first time they are being listened to.  

Encountering Cultural Difference Crossing Cultures Encountering Cultural Difference

Stages of Adaptation

We are determined by our formative experiences I thought the whole world was just like me, until we moved away.. Then I learned I was different.

Psychosocial Development Our progress through each stage of development is in part determined by our success, or lack of success, in all the previous stages. Eric Erikson and the epigenetic principle.

We Evolve Through Social Interaction Socialization imprints on personality and our personality impacts on others. Their reaction to our personality then determines our socialization… and so on. .

Walk A Mile in Their Shoes Formative experiences. teach us how to interact with the world.

Evaluation & Closure