The purpose of this paper is to examine crisis intervention as a model for shortterm treatment in casework practice. When working together, psychiatry and casework practice, can be an useful approach in solving urgent problems. When the impact of a st...
The purpose of this paper is to examine crisis intervention as a model for shortterm treatment in casework practice. When working together, psychiatry and casework practice, can be an useful approach in solving urgent problems. When the impact of a stressful life event disturbs the individuals equilibrium, he tries to employ his customary equilibrium. He also tries to employ his customay repertoire of problem solving mechanism, which gives rise to further tension. If these do not work, his distress increases, and he mobilizes new, novel, and emergency methods. During the course of the crisis situation, the individual may perceive the stressful or hazardous event as a threat, either to his instinctual needs or to his sense of autonomy.
There are four stages in a crisis development;
Phase 1 In the first stage, there is a rise in tension caused by the emergence of a problem. During this stage there is an attempt to evoke the usual problem solving techniques.
Phase 2 In the second stage, there is a failure of the habitual coping devices and all period of distress and ineffectuality occurs.
Phase 3 In the third stage, there is a further rise in tension, which stimulates action. It is the stimulus for the mobilization of the internal resources involving both individuals in the crisis and his family and of external resources. These internal and external resources develop some kinds of emergency problem solving devices.
Phase 4 If the problem continues and can, neither be solved with a need satisfaction for avoided by a need resignation or perceptual disstotion, the tension mounts beyond the threshold and the burden increases over time to a breaking point. Major disorganization within the individual soon appears with drastic result. The state of active crisis is time-limited, and it depends on the total field of biopsychosocial forces, the nature of the hazardous event, the individual's perception, response, and coping patterns, and with the resources available to deal with the situation. During the crisis situation, customary defense mechanisms weakened, and the ego is more receptive to outside influence and change.
The crisis provides a double oppoutunity, both to solve the present condition and to rework previous problems. His equilibrium may return to its past stage, or may get better or get worse.
The realignment of forces both inside his personality and outside, that is, those meaningful relationships with people in his milieu, will be more or less satisfying to his needs.
In attempting to apply the crisis approach to the casework process, it becomes evident that the traditional phases of study, diagnosis, and treatment cannot be used. And crisis intervention is an ego-supportive approach. It is consisted with the major social casework goals of restoration and enhancement of personal and social functioning. It is an approach which takes into account the multidimensional factors of causation and problem solution. In crisis intervention, systematic studies of the results at termination and those of long term effects, do not exist to date.