Crisis Response, Question 4

Discuss how an individual’s ability to appropriately cope and/or problem solve may be affected by crisis and explain the process you would use to assist this individual. (minimum 100 words)

Crisis can cause a person to lose their orientation, finding themselves unable to determine where they are in time or space. This sort of confusion can lead to an inability to resolve even trivial issues without aid, and can prevent people from coping appropriately with their surroundings (Kennedy, 394).

In many ways, a crisis will introduce chaos into a system of (sometimes) fragile order, and will cause that system to be incomprehensible to the person engaged in it. As a result, it is our job as helpers to help put things back in order. In some cases, we are fortunate enough to be outside of the crisis or emergency, and in those cases we can help the person in crisis by thinking through options with them (thus mitigating some of that chaos), putting them in touch with services they need, and being willing to listen to them when they feel incapable of making a decision without talking through it first.

Works Cited

Kennedy, Eugene and Charles, Sara. On Becoming a Counselor: A Basic Guide for Nonprofessional Counselors and Other Helpers. Crossroad Publishing Co. : New York, NY. 2001.

Content © 2003-2010, Michael J Dangler
Updated on 01/08/2010. Site Credits / Email Me!
Basic site design from ADF.org
(Yes, I stole it!)