Crisis intervention
Learning Objectives
After considering this resource, you should understand the framework for, and theory underpinning, crisis intervention as well as its advantages and disadvantages.
Crisis intervention is framed around people's need for help in situations when their innate coping mechanisms fail them for whatever reason. Like the task-centred approach, it is another intervention that evolved within the discipline of social work itself, between the 1960s and 1970s. The principles, techniques and skills used then remain crucial tools of social work practitioners today.
The following quick guide, authored by Marie Joseph, explores the person-centred approach more fully, including the theory underlying this intervention and the advantages and disadvantages of it.
Reflective Questions
- What does a 'crisis' situation mean to you?
- How can this approach empower a service user?
- How might this intervention differ at the beginning, middle and end a crisis?
- How might crisis intervention be a preventative intervention?