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Crisis Intervention
This paper will look at crisis intervention towards my aunt who had lost her husband and her only child in a severe road accident.it will evaluate ways in which she was able to deal with the situation through support from family and psychiatric help
Crisis Intervention Template Answers
Crisis intervention is an immediate psychological care often perceived to be short term whose aim is to help individuals manage a crisis or problem they are going through in order to minimize trauma or long term psychological effects.
My aunt has had several situations that have affected her so much. After getting married, she had a difficulty conceiving and every time she conceived she would get a miscarriage. She had suffered more than seven miscarriages before eventually giving birth to his only child a baby boy. From the miscarriages she had developed depression and was most of the time quite sad but after giving birth to his son, changes were observed as she was now a jovial soul who showered her son with love.
After the death of her husband and child who were involved in a road accident, we knew she would soon hit rock bottom. She tried committing suicide on that same day by overdosing on chlorpromazine luckily her sister was able to find her and she was taken to the hospital. After recovering, she was taken to a psychiatrist who informed us that my aunt was in a crisis because of the traumatic event that she had gone through. There were several emotional responses exhibited by my aunt including anger, self-blame, guilt, anxiety, apathy, panic attacks, denial and hopelessness a clear sign that she was going through a crisis.
Coping mechanism that were provided included offering of support to her. Every family member wanted her to know that she was not going to go through the situation alone. Everyone showered her with love. I and my cousin had to move in with her to assist her and ensure that she was okay.
Yes, my aunt did seek help. This was after convincing from the family members on how the loss had caused so much pain to her and she needed help in order to move on. She agreed to schedule her time for counselling every three times in a week.
The crisis situation was resolved by the doctor recommending crisis counselling immediately in order to provide a platform they could talk. We were advised to also offer her the support she needed during that point in her life as she needed strong support system to show her empathy and love. According to the doctor through the counselling, she would help my aunt develop coping mechanism that would aid her in dealing with stress and provide assessment to her situation in order to determine if she may need medication. The doctor also recommended that she join a support group that was composed of other women who had lost their husbands and children which she eventually did. The doctor stated that it was important for he to now find another purpose in their life as to why they need to leave
Coping mechanism of those involved included finding something fun to do together. Before as a family rarely would we create time to come together and do things such as watching movies or playing games, but now we had movie nights and games night. This was aimed at ensuring there were light mounts and laughter taking away peples thoughts from the situation that they adjust gone through. As family, we learnt that getting through a difficult situation require personal commitment to be helped, letting in other people by sharing what you fell and that if one goes through a difficult situation the only way they will come out strong is if they have a support system that show them apathy and love.
After a few months, my aunt felt better. She is now able to continue with her normal routine including going to work which she had stopped going to while she was going through the crisis. She is more open and talks to her sisters when she feels sad. She also still continues to go to a councilor although now not as frequently as before.
ABC model is a crisis intervention model developed by Gerald Caplan and Eric Lindemann. The aim of the model is conducting mental health interview to clients I order to understand functioning level after a stressful situation (Kanel, 2014). The first phase is building a rapport with a client. This is important as it ensures the client can be open and talk to you about what they are going through. In creating a rapport with my aunt the counselor took initiative in understanding her past and understanding why she was going through so much pain. The second phase of the model is understanding the problem, the counselor needed to understand the relationship between my aunt and the two people that she had lost in her life. She also needed to understand her past of the miscarriages she had and how difficult it was conceiving. The last phase is taking action. The counselor scheduled appointments for my aunt every thrice a week and also linked her with a group of women wo had also lost their children and husbands. This helped my aunt meet other people who understood her and provided her space where she could talk what she was going through. I believe everything was well and professionally as the doctor was swift in taking action and very supportive of my aunt in ensuring she got better
From the crisis, the greatest lesson my aunt learn was that she could get through the toughest situation just with the right help. She talks of how much the support and love from family helped her through the situation and also how the first step to recovery is acceptance.
Now, we can discuss the loss of her husband and son comfortably. She often brings u the topic when I Colman of how I am going through something and uses her case to show that with optimism things ow get better. However, I often try not to bring up the topic because I know she still feel sad occasionally
Three weeks after the incident, my aunt tried committing suicide again stating that she could not bear the pain anymore luckily someone found her on time and she was taken to the hospital. This is when she agreed to full counselling and going to the support group that the doctor had recommended and since then she has become better. On her free time, she has taken up classes including baking and knitting classes as she states it helps hr. keep her mind busy and occupied which prevents the sad thoughts from swarming into her mind.
Works Cited
Kanel, Kristi. A guide to crisis intervention. Cengage Learning, 2014.
