Future Trend of Crisis Intervention in the Human Services Delivery System

Abstract
Crisis intervention strategies are methods that are used to offer prompt, short term support to individuals that experience some incidences that can elicit emotional, mental, or even physiological distress or complications. A crisis is an occurrence where an individual experiences a quick loss of the ability to solve a problem or cope very easily. This paper will start by stating the purpose of crisis intervention and then have an overview of a future crisis intervention trend, how the trend will impact the practice of crisis intervention within the human services field and the challenges the trend will need to be met as a result of the impact.

Preview
Crisis intervention strategies are methods that are used to offer prompt, short term support to individuals that experience some incidences that can elicit emotional, mental, or even physiological distress or complications (Aguilera, 1998). A crisis is an occurrence where an individual experiences a quick loss of the ability to solve a problem or cope very easily. Most of these crises are life threatening and intervention done at the opportune time can really help in saving lives. Some of these crises include natural disasters like floods, human problems like kidnap, suicide attempt or sexual assault, criminal victimization or even loss of a loved one.
Purpose of Crisis Intervention
There are several purposes of crisis intervention one of them being the reduction of the intensity of the victim’s reaction to a crisis that may be behavioral, mental and physical. The other objective is to help the victim to return to their ordinary mode of functioning that might have been disrupted by the emergence of the crisis and this is usually done through the use of a variety of coping skills and by also eliminating ineffective coping skills (Aguilera, 1998). Some of these ineffective coping skills include aloofness, withdrawal and even substance abuse. This enables the victim to deal easily with future suchlike problems or problems of another type. As the individual recovers from the crisis, through talking about what happened and any other relevant exposure, prevention of the occurrence of long term problems is achieved. Some individuals are more open to the reception of help than others and there are those that might have stayed for days or weeks without seeking help after a crisis. The length of time that the process of crisis intervention takes may depend on the nature of the crisis and the period of time the victim took to seek help.  The process of crisis intervention may not have any significant help for those people who have problems that are longstanding though it is appropriate for a person of any age. The process can take place anywhere, whether in a hospital, clinics, mental health centers and other agencies for social service. Crisis intervention is not sufficient for individuals with long-standing problems (Aguilera, 1998).
Modern Trends of Response to Crisis
 An ordinary response to a crisis takes some phases. The initial phase entails the assessment of the nature of the crisis and how the individual responded to it. Knowing how an individual responded is very important because there are several patterns of response that warrant different kinds of intervention mechanisms. Some individuals react by trying to harm themselves or others, others try homicide or suicide while others may collapse or go into a trance if not getting dizzy or panicking. This information helps in evaluating the coping skills of the individual.
In the past, crisis intervention strategies did not encompass education but the current and the future strategies for crisis intervention must have the element of education in them. This is because it is very imperative for the individuals to be aware of the several response mechanisms to avoid abnormal reactions to normal situations. This calls for the use of coping and problem solving skills, where the individual is made to understand the crisis and made aware of the proper way to express feelings (Aguilera, 1998). Strategies that the individual had been using to deal with a recurrent crisis may be bolstered or enhanced during the process of education and inculcation of coping skills. New coping skills may be encouraged also and the individual encouraged to voice out his or her fears, concerns instead of restricting them inside. Problem solving is another future trend in crisis intervention, and it includes a thorough understanding of the problem and stating the changes that are desired and also the alternatives that may be considered for solving a particular situation and the discussion of the merits and the demerits of the solutions that are alternative. Another future trend that may be very effective in crisis intervention is cognitive therapy that works on the premises that thoughts have an influence on feelings and the way one behaves and as such it can be used in the intervention of crises. The final phase of this trend of intervention involves the review of the changes that the victim has made so that difficult life events can be easily coped up with (Aguilera, 1998).
Trends: Suicide Intervention Case Study
The most frequent mental health emergency behavior is suicide and the goal of suicide intervention is to ensure that the victim is kept alive in order to reach a state that is stable as the alternatives to suicide are being reviewed. Suicidal behavior is the most frequent mental health emergency. The goal of crisis intervention in this case is to keep the individual alive so that a stable state can be reached and alternatives to suicide can be explored. In other words, the goal is to help the individual reduce distress and survive the crisis.
    Suicide intervention starts with an assessment process focusing on the likelihood of the incident recurring sometimes in the future (Slaby, 1998). There are some various components that are supposed to be evaluated with the professional involved trying to evaluate whether the individual had planned how to commit the act and the level of seriousness of the act committed. The emotions of the individual including depression, anxiety, hopelessness and being hostile can also be considered in the process. The other thing that will be important in the trend is the assessment of past responses to situation of crisis especially past suicide attempts and the family history regarding suicide. The trend also involves the assessment of the factors that have led to the crisis; and these factors include unemployment, illness or even loss of an important relationship. A written contract for safekeeping can be obtained and the person who signs the treatment is the individual stating that he or she will not commit suicide and also consents to various mitigation actions like informing the responsible medic, emergency personnel of even people who are close to the individual any time the thoughts of committing suicide arise again (Aguilera, 1998).
  The contract should include all the strategies that can help the individual to cope up with a variety of situations that can lead to the recurrence of such behavior (Slaby, 1998). If the individual asserts that he is not able to comply, then extra medical help including the involvement of a psychiatrist may be sought. Voluntary or involuntary hospitalization on mental grounds may also be necessary. The other trend in suicide intervention is the education of family close relatives and friends of the individual as the professionals seek their support. Some types of therapy like family therapy, individual therapy medication by psychiatrist or substance abuse treatment.
Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD)
  Critical incident stress debriefing is a method that uses a structure of a group format that is small in the discussion of crisis event that is distressing. It is one of the best and most common models of debriefing and it is an integral part of critical incident model of stress management. It works hand in hand with another model that is called the one on one crisis intervention and it is related to family support models, follow up programs and education programs for stress management (Slaby, 1998). The original design of the critical incident stress debriefing targeted the high risk professional groups but in the emerging trends, it is being used with any one in the populace including young children and old people. In the past it had been used by anyone to intervene but the future will see an improvement because currently there is a high number of trained personnel to carry out intervention measures using the program. The program is currently undergoing modifications whereby the personnel being trained to carry out crisis intervention using it include the clergy, mental health professionals, teachers and any other social service group that deals with a wide variety of people. Peer support personnel and emergency operations workers are also being considered to form part of this vital team of debriefing. The debriefing process is now recommended to take place not more than 72 hours after the incident but it should be after the first 24 hours after the crisis. The purpose of the method is the prevention of emotional, physiological, mental or behavioral responses that are excessive in nature and things like post traumatic stress disorder in reaction to a crisis. The goal is to help the individual to recover in a short period of time (Slaby, 1998). There are some precautionary measures that should be taken while using CISD because it can end up harming the individuals in distress it is supposed to help especially if it is used to a method of psychotherapy or something acting as a substitute for it. It is not supposed to be an entire problem solving mechanism and it can be used in conjunction with other methods. It is best used a referral of follow up treatment after the debriefing of the victims. The last trend in crisis intervention is the medical crisis counseling that is a brief intervention that is utilized to address anxieties, depression, paranoia and other social problems in the health care arena that are chronic. It utilizes coping strategies that help in the building of support socially in order to help the patient mitigate or manage the levels of stress that arises from a serious medical condition (Slaby, 1998). It also aids in the understanding of reactions as ordinary responses to a circumstance that is stressful to bring about better functioning. The future trends may require two or three sessions of the crisis counseling as research is being expanded to make the process effective in decreasing the levels of distress of the victims and improve their body functional systems.