ABC Model of Crisis Intervention

¶ … Crisis Intervention

ABC Model of Crisis Intervention

The ABC model of crisis intervention comprises of three stages namely A) achieving contact, B) identifying the crisis, C) coping. The model is used to construct brief mental health interviews for person's that have been affected by some psychological stressor. This a problem-focused approach that is most effective if used within 4 to 6 weeks of the stressor occurring. A counselor will use the ABC model in order to restore the client to a normal level of functioning or normal state. Achieving contact is vital as the counselor has to get the client to open up about what happened. To get the client to speak about the stressor, the counselor will employ basic attending skills, empathetic responses, active listening, respectful demeanor, and calming reassurance. Recognizing the client's non-verbal responses is also vital for the counselor. Identifying the problem will only be possible if the client and counselor have built a good rapport. The counselor will identify the nature of the crisis by establishing the client's emotional distress, precipitating events, and cognitions. Coping is the last step the model. This step deals with how the client is coping with the past, present, and future in their behavior.

In order for a counselor, to be successful in crisis counseling they will need to have the following skills excellent listening skills, communication skills, patience, empathetic, non-judgmental, respectful, and trustworthy. These skills will enable the counselor to reach out to a client and be able to build a good rapport. Been an active listener and having good communication skills will assist the counselor to listen, understand, and communicate to the client showing empathy to their crisis. This way the client will feel respected, and they will likely open up and be comfortable with the counselor. The client will need to feel they can trust the counselor with their crisis. Demonstrating that one can be trusted and having the required skills for trustworthiness is crucial for the counselor. Trust is hard earned, and the counselor will need to earn the client's trust. Problem-solving skills will assist the counselor to know how to handle and provide solutions to the client. The client will be interested in a person who can provide solutions to their crisis. Clients should not be rushed into opening up. Therefore, the counselor should be very patient with the client. Patience will allow the client to get comfortable with the counselor, and they can build a rapport.

The second step is identifying the problem. In order to identify the problem the counselor will need to interview the client. The interview will enable the counselor to identify the precipitating events, subjective distress, functioning of the client, and perceptions of the client. The counselor will have to use their intuition and creative process during the interview process Kanel, 2007.

This will assist the counselor to better understand the crisis affecting the client. Exploring the client's perception is the vital thing in the second stage. The counselor will spend most of the sessions exploring the client's perceptions. The counselor will ask the client what their thoughts are regarding the crisis, the client's thoughts will then be explored by asking questions to clarify what they client means. Using open-ended questions will assist the counselor to explore the related thoughts and perceptions. The counselor can be able to alter the client's frame of mind by using therapeutic interaction comments. The counselor will be presented with various cognitions and they will have to employ different therapeutic interaction comments. The main focus for crisis intervention is identifying cognitions and providing new ways of thinking.

In the second stage, the counselor should be aware of the following ethical considerations suicide, danger to others, child abuse, substance abuse, medical illness, elder, and disabled adult abuse. These ethical considerations will be easily identified as the counselor identifies the client's cognition. The interview process will provide opportunities for the counselor to extract information that will assist in determining the client's frame of mind. The counselor should figure out a way to structure the ethical questions in the flow of normal conversation. This way the client will not feel like the counselor is prosecuting them, and they will answer the questions. There are legal requirements that the counselor has to obey. Any child abuse should be reported to the relevant authorities by the counselor. In case, a client is having suicidal thoughts it the counselor's responsibility to provide the client with alternative means of handling the situation.