Crisis Response and Counselor Role

Role of Counselors in Emergency Response

Abstract

Counselors are integral personnel in aiding in crisis responses. The role of counselors is to cope with and support people after a significant crisis. As defined in this study, crisis counseling entails a brief and time-limited process aimed at fostering the attainment of specific goals that foster stability, increase an internal sense of safety and empowerment, and locate the needed resources (Bauwens & Naturale, 2017). Crisis counseling is not suitable for long-term therapy. Instead, it is concerned with ensuring and providing a client with immediate relief. For this project, a crisis counselor was selected for the interview, and they were asked to explain more about their role in crisis counseling. The paper contains an overview of the role and responsibilities of a crisis counselor, the skills needed to become a crisis counselor, and builds knowledge on crisis counseling and its importance.

Role of Counselors in Emergency Response

A crisis is a term that refers to a traumatic event or experience but a person's response to the situation. Such events substantially trigger a crisis ranging from domestic violence to suicide. Crisis counseling is a form of intervention that aids people in dealing with a problem by having assistance and support from a counselor. With the surge of disasters and emergencies in the world today, counselors have emerging roles, considering they are members of a disaster response team. From the process of preparedness and recovery, counseling remains a source of support for victims and involved persons. Therefore, this study outlines the role of counselors in emergency response, focusing on interview responses obtained from a crisis counselor and an overview of research on the same.

Interview with an Emergency Professional

For this project, the crisis counselor interviewed works in the Lifeline Suicide Prevention Organization as a crisis counselor. The organization responds to cases of suicide. As a crisis counselor, the interviewee claimed that they help assist suicide victims by calling Lifeline, which is free and works 24 hours a day. They support those in distress and provide prevention and crisis resources to those contemplating suicide. As the interviewee claimed, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers providing free and confidential support to people having a suicidal crisis and being distressed emotionally. This organization aims to advance suicide prevention by empowering people and promoting best practices while building awareness, which aligns with psychological first aid goals and aims.

Comparison with the Mental Health All-Hazards Planning Guidance

The interviewee agrees with the planning guide on the importance of cohesiveness and all-inclusivity in emergency responses. According to the Planning Guide (2003), mental health and emergency management foster a coordinated priority for successful emergency response. The interviewee works with the team to pick up calls and respond to a caller with suicide issues for the plan to work effectively. Emergency plans would likely fail when there is limited coordination. The interviewee works coordinatively with other professionals, such as first responders and customer care to attend to suicide victims. Because psychological first aid is offered in this case, coordination is mandatory among all bodies. In psychological first aid, the goal is creating a sense of safety, fostering calmness, providing a sense of self and efficacy within a community, building interconnectedness, and providing hope (Fernandes, 2014). When providing this first aid, these principles should be kept in mind. The Lifeline Suicide Prevention program offers psychological first aid by focusing on and recognizing emotional pain in those calling for help. More so, the responders work towards disrupting the negative thoughts with positive distractions, eventually providing hope among callers and those contemplating suicide. At the same time, the interviewee claims that the first steps involve evaluating dangers, safety, and security threats in callers and obtaining information about the client's present situation. During the discussions, the crisis responders monitor and assess the emotional responses provided by the patients to ascertain if they have successfully managed to give them the needed hope to face life and the prevailing situations in their lives.

Counselor Responsibilities in Emergency Management

Counselors are responsible for understanding the consequences of trauma and can use counseling skills in a crisis. According to Fernandes (2014), psychological interventions are necessary for a disaster to prevent extreme conditions such as suicide that are prevalent due to frustrations. Suicide is prevalent today, with over 100 million people globally at risk of suicide due to their living conditions and psychological trauma. Counselors should provide mental health services, and they should know and distinguish serious suicide claims and non-serious ones while avoiding instances where one party is dismissed. The role of counselors is to calm the patient down and take charge of the situation when a person's mental health issue is determined as the main presenting problem.

A counselor should be culturally competent and provide interventions suitable to clients from a particular culture. Crisis intervention is prevalent and occurs in people from different backgrounds, cultures, and ethnicities (Zakaria et al., 2021). In this case, cultural competence is an integral and essential aspect of crisis management. Westernized interventions may not be suitable for minority groups. Thus, culturally-based interventions are some of the roles and responsibilities of counselors in emergency management.

Skills, Knowledge, and Training Required for Crisis Counselors

Counselors should know about suicide and mental health conditions that lead to suicide. Counselors must acknowledge the psychological effects of trauma and disasters on a person. Thus, specific skills are integral for crisis counselors. Precisely, counselors should learn to display empathy. Validation and reflection of feelings are essential counseling skills that could be applied during a crisis. The interviewee claimed that counselors have skills trained to use in times of an emergency, including cultural competence, which allows them to provide culturally-centric help and aid to clients. Another essential skill required in crisis counseling is collaboration (Oostlander et al., 2020). Knowledge of the chain of command to follow during a crisis is integral. At the same time, considering that the interviewee works in Lifeline, a call center for suicidal persons, negotiation is essential. A skilled negotiator knows how to convince a patient in crisis not to attempt suicide but seek other different forms and sources of help. The negotiation process could be time-consuming. Counselors should learn to be patient to ensure that they have effectively convinced a person with suicidal ideations not to attempt and actualize their plans.