314 Chapter Thirteen

feelings they are experiencing are a part of the crisis state and they must ex-
press them. This process will dissipate some of the tension inherent in the
crisis situation and will allow children and their families a chance to examine
their feelings and correct any distortions apparent in their affective states.
The purpose in this procedure is to help them gain a sense of control over
the feelings they experience in response to the crisis.
Jeremy has many feelings in this particular situation. He feels anxious,
desperate, angry, embarrassed, afraid, helpless, and hopeless at various times
during this crisis. Ms. Lambert reflects his feelings and helps him to recognize
and express his feelings, using conversational and expressive techniques like
drawing and writing. As she works with him on understanding his feelings,
Jeremy begins to see that he can control his emotional reactions and that he
does not have to let his emotions control him.

Developing Coping Skills

The final goal in this process is to help children and their families develop
more adaptive problem-solving strategies (Steele & Raider, 1991). This may
involve assisting them in reviewing coping techniques they already know and
generating ways of applying them in the specific crisis situation. It may also
involve teaching diem new coping skills, helping them practice those skills,
and adapting those skills to their current circumstances.
Ms. Lambert assists Jeremy in considering ..which of the coping strategies he
already knows, such_as_ apologizing, could help him solve this particular
situation. She asks him to think about how he can adapt some of his usual
problem-solving skills, such as brainstorming, to working out a solution widi his
parents. Ms. Lambert teaches Jeremy some negotiation techniques diat she
believes might be helpful in coming Jo a new understanding with his par ents.
They practice these skills in her office. She may also suggest that they invite
his parents to her office so that she can help the entire family work on dealing
with this crisis in a cooperative manner.
These four goals are not as discrete as the preceding example might lead
die reader to believe. As counselors work widi children and their families in
diis crisis intervention process, diey will find that the different goals and die
strategies that they use to achieve diem will overlap. Counselors will also find
that all of diis happens very rapidly. Because the crisis phenomenon is time-
limited, there is always a certain degree of telescoping and truncating in cri sis
intervention Uiat makes the process different dian ordinary counseling in -
teraction. In .crisis intervention, everything happens more quickly and
intensely than it does in other counseling situations.

Stages and Counseling Strategies in Crisis Intervention

The literature on crisis inservention suggests that crisis intervention usually
follows a logical sequence of stages (Aguilera, 1990; France, 1990;
Steele & Raider, 1991). A frequendy used arrangement of crisis interven tion
progresses through the following stages, which resemble a typical