Crisis Counselling

CRISIS COUNSELLING Duration:  100 hours
Course Content
This course comprises of the following nine lessons:

1. Understanding methods of crisis intervention
   What constitutes a crisis and methods of crisis intervention?
   
2. Ethical, professional and legal issues
   Current ethical, professional and legal implications of crisis intervention.
   
3. Dangers of crises and effective intervention
   Dangers posed by crisis to the individual, the counsellor, and those around them. Determining effective modes of intervention.
   
4. Developmental Crises
   Recognising and comprehending crises from a developmental perspective.
   
5. Post-traumatic stress disorder
   Symptoms, treatment options and possible outcomes of post-traumatic stress disorder.
   
6. Violence and sexual assault
   Effects of violence and sexual assault on the individual, and possible modes of intervention.
   
7. Crisis and drug addiction
   Determining the relationship between crises and drug dependence.
   
8. Family crises
   Major issues raises in family crises and appropriate methods of intervention.
   
9. Crises and cultural issues
   Cultural influences on crisis situations. 

WHAT YOU WILL DO IN THIS COURSE
Some of the activities that you will undertake as part of this course are:
-          Role play a critical incident debriefing session
-          Familiarise yourself  with the Australian Counselling Association Code of Conduct
-          Interview a counsellor from a community mental health service in your area
-          View films, read or listen to stories (where possible) about personal or family crises
-          Discuss post-traumatic stress disorder with a community mental health worker
-          Explore physical, emotional, cognitive and social responses to sexual assault or violence
-          Examine the relationship between trauma and drugs
-          Interview or observe people from other cultures to identify cultural and sub-cultural responses to crises
-          Explore how sub-cultural groups may require different counselling approaches
-          Consider various methods of crisis intervention.
An Extract From the Course -
CASE STUDY - Law Enforcement Personnel and CISD
When we phone the emergency services, we expect to be taken seriously and our call handled competently. We expect the police to rush to our burgled home, the fire service to rush to put out the fire the ambulance to save our loved one and so on. We take these services for granted, because of the workers who perform these services.
However, these emergency service staff are routinely exposure to traumatic events and daily pressures that require them to have a certain attitude, temperament and training. Without this, they couldn't do their jobs effectively. Sometimes the stress may become too much and the toughness they need to do their jobs can impede them seeking help for themselves.
Police officers are often reluctant to talk to outsiders and may not wish to show "weakness" to their peers or other emergency service staff or the public. Police officers may typically work alone or with a single partner, whereas the fire service or paramedics may have more of a team mentality.
Police officers deal frequently with the most violent and predatory members of society. Their job requires them to put their lives on the line and face things that the rest of us only see on our televisions or in our newspapers. They are also frequently criticised by the media, the public, judicial system and so on.
Sometimes the stresses become too much. They may experience a traumatic event, such as a homicide, violent crime against a child, brush with death, death of a partner, death of an innocent civilian, a large scale crime or so on. This can result in PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). The symptoms of this will be discussed in a later lesson.
For others, there may be no single trauma, but the cumulative effect of routine stresses. In America, two-thirds of officers involved in shootings suffer moderate or severe problems. About 70% leave the force within seven years of the incident. Police are more likely to be admitted to hospital than the general population. Twice as many officers die by suicide than those killed in the line of duty.
CISD is used within the law enforcement service. The structure usually consists of one or more mental health professionals and one or more peer debriefers (fellow officers who have trained in CISD themselves). A typical debriefing will usually take place 24 - 72 hours after a critical incident and may involve a single meeting lasting two to three hours.
Crises happens to everyone, and intervention can take many forms, from family helping and support strategies to professional counselling strategies aimed at helping the individual cope with crisis in ways that reduce the negative psychological, physiological and behavioural effects of trauma on that person and his or her environment.
The purpose of crisis counselling is to deal with the person's current status by dealing with a crisis. Chronic exposure to stress or trauma can lead to mental illness. Therefore, it is important that counsellors have the skills and knowledge to help clients cope with their current stressors and trauma. Crisis counselling is not intended to provide psychotherapy or similar, but offers a short-term intervention to helps clients receive assistance, resources, stabilisation and support.

This course will help you to develop your ability to effectively counsel and assist clients in times of crisis. This course provides those already in the counselling or helping industries with knowledge and skills to give specialised counselling, and will contribute to comprehensive counselling training for those wishing to work in this field.