Tools for Responding to People in Crisis

All of us have experienced some degree of crisis at some point in our lives. Many of us will remember how our thoughts, emotions and behaviours changed in ways that felt difficult to control. We may also remember how these changes affected the people around us. It’s likely that the effects of our “crisis states” were intensified, for everyone, by people not knowing how to deal with us or how to provide useful support. Health researchers tell us that interacting with people in crisis on a regular basis increases the risk of stress, burn out, and depression. We also know that ineffective responses to employees, clients and customers experiencing a crisis are a major source of financial loss in all economic sectors.
If you – or other members of your organization – interact with people who may be facing crisis, our workshop “Tools for Responding to People in Crisis” can help you learn how to respond effectively, as well as how to avoid the health-related consequences of providing crisis support.
Workshops are half day (two to three hours) or a full day in length and include interactive activities, discussions and case studies.  Each workshop is tailored based on the participants’ learning objectives.  Key outcomes include:

• Understanding a crisis state and the goals of crisis intervention;
• Knowing what can be helpful in working with an individual in crisis;
• Describing and applying communication skills effective for crisis intervention;
• Identification of community resources and workplace protocols;
• Recognizing our personal and professional boundaries and the need for self-care.

Learning how to respond to people in crisis can improve the overall well-being of your work group, increase morale and allow employees to focus on the needs of clients or customers.
For more information please contact: lripley@crisiscentre.bc.ca