In the chaotic aftermath of disasters, crises, or traumas, crisis workers have the opportunity to effect positive social change. This opportunity may occur whether they are disaster relief workers responding to a hurricane, school psychologists responding to a school shooting, or mental health clinicians working with returning combat veterans or survivors of child sexual abuse. Crisis intervention is, by its very nature, a means to a positive social change.
To prepare for this Discussion:
• Identify a specific type of disaster, crisis, or trauma that you learned about in this course.
• Think about how this specific disaster, crisis, or trauma might impact individuals, families, and communities.
• Reflect on the role of crisis workers in responding to the identified disaster, crisis, or trauma.
• Consider crisis intervention strategies and/or skills that crisis workers might use to address the needs of individuals, families, and communities impacted by the disaster, crisis, or trauma.
• Think about how crisis workers might help to reduce the short- and long-term effects of the disaster, crisis, or trauma on affected individuals, families, and communities.