A Guide to Crisis Intervention - Essay Example

Description of the Patient

The patient seeking for attention for alcoholic abuse is a male, thirty years of age and comes from African-American ethnic background. He is married to a white lady, aged 26. Together they have one child (3 years old son), and they are expecting another within the next six months. However, the couple is undergoing relationship turmoil. On investigation, I learned that it is originating and fueled up by in-laws from both sides. For the past, almost five months, the two have not been residing in their marital home. According to the patient, he has tried severally to talk her back into the house but in futile. He now fears of losing his son, the unborn baby and the mother. Previously he was working with a mechanical garage but then he lost the job because of his drinking behavior. He is now unable to remove his housing bills, outstanding for the last three months.

The Crisis

A crisis is a situation where the person affected deviates from the previous stable state. In that case, the patient is trying to adjust and come to terms with a worsening situation. Usually, the person affected does not have an immediate solution to the problem. Several attempts to change the situation fail to work or worsen the situation and the individual runs out of options. It is then followed by a dull and depressing phase which also involves several attempts to change the situation. The next phase is when the patient tries to reach an equilibrium state with his or her situation. Trying to achieve a balance to a threatening situation or problem that one feels like he or she cannot overcome is usually a worsening attempt like resolving into more and more drinking. A person undergoing such series of events (crisis) may be described as an individual facing a situation that is threatening, hazardous and which seems like it is not going to change. The problem develops into a crisis when the victim starts to feel that he or she has failed to win a challenge presented in life.

With such comprehensive background information about the development of the crisis, it is easy to describe and understand the unfolding events according to the patient described above. There are four developmental stages of a crisis that will aid in this study to develop a timeline showing how the patient is problem developed into a crisis and whether it is true to describe it as a crisis.

There are four stages in the development of an emotional crisis:

The first stage is the occurrence of a problem to an individual that threatens the normal emotional response. Depending on the nature of the problem, the person will develop tension, trying to respond to the problem. In my study case, the patient was threatened by the quarrel that led to his wife and son moving out of the house. It is the first incidence in which my patient faces an emotional threat. He describes that very event as a situation that he had never thought it will happen someday to his family. What follows next is the usual attempt of every individual to solve a threatening situation.

The second stage of crisis development is well the victim realizes that the problem is real and dangerous. It is after the regular attempts to solve a problem do not seem to bear any fruits or change the situation. The person starts to act in a disorganized manner and cannot function normally.

According to my patients, this stage dawned at the moment when he tried to convince his wife to come back, but his plea fell on deaf ears. The patient took an extra step of going to her in-laws' place and explained what happened and how he had realized his mistake. What my patient learned at that point is that the neither his parents nor his in-laws were for their marriage. And now his wife was walking out of a peaceful 3-year marriage.

The third stage is the most critical stage. It defines the future of the individual and what the problem he or she is facing at the moment will make him or her. In this juncture, the victim may be able to find a real solution to his problem. Such solutions originate from the rise in tension which will lead to an emergence measurement, stimulated by the fear to fail. At the same time, in this stage, the individual may fall into the problem and accept defeat. At that point, the individual feels strongly that he has no solution left to solve his problem. Just like my patient, the person may resolve to wrong habits like drinking as a way of attaining a state of equilibrium with the problems. This stage is quite crucial as early said. It precedes the last stage of the emotional crisis. It is at this stage that crisis intervention might work.

The fourth is the last one. In this stage, the individual loses control over the events that will follow. If the problem continues, the tension that the individual is going through mounts to the worst level. It may lead to personal burnout.

According to Kristi (2015), crisis follows steps, just like discussed above. The first step, which is characterized with the precipitating event is the like the cause of the problem. In our case study outlined above, the precipitating event is when the wife and the son move out of their home and leave the affected individual alone. The situation turns into a crisis when the person involved loses coping skills. In our day to day lives, we face challenges which develop into stress. When to find the means and the ay to meet such challenges, they do not evolve into a crisis. But then the continuous development of hardship in our situation leads to a developmental crisis-one that worsens from time to time despite how hard we try to cope with it.

Effects of Multicultural Perspective and Diversity on the Client and the Crisis Intervention Process

Cultural diversity is a spectrum of differences that exists among a group of people who originate from different cultural backgrounds that are both unique and definable. Culture plays a paramount role in the lives of each and every person. It even defines how an individual views a particular problem and how one develops a solution to a problem. In our case study, there is conspicuously a difference in the ethnic background of the person and the wife.

One challenge that is yet to be realized by the client in this situation is the lack of representation of his ethnic background in the counseling process. Most of the available information used in counseling in western countries like the United States bases their assumptions on the culture of the west. For example in the American culture, silence may be viewed as a sign of rudeness and may lead to discomfort to the helper. But in other cultures like the Indians and even the Africans Cultures, silence is viewed as a form of respect. The client may choose to remain quite until the helper talks first. Such communications are important to the counseling process as they help study the client.

Another challenge that the client is yet to face is financial support through the counseling process. Because the client no longer earns since he lost his job, it is hard to define where he will look for support to run him through all the counseling sessions. Even in the position of the helper, one may not feel comfortable to continue with helping sessions if the client does not express probable source of finance.

Consequences of Alcoholism to the Family and the Individual

It is well established that alcoholism can be a source of negative impacts to the family members and the individual. Irresponsible drinking can lead to child abuse especially if it is characterized with alcohol due to an unusual cause of stress. In our case study, the spouse is expectant, and that is quite a vulnerable state to be exposed to disorder or excessive drinking. There is also the risk of the husband to loose grip in family roles especially after failing to maintain his job. It translates to economic overdependence on the mother and maybe the extended family. To the individual, there are some problems that he is at the risk to face. One such risk is a social stigma which will contribute to depression.

Crisis Intervention Using the ABC model

The ABC model is an intervention approach that aims at solving the problem of an individual that originates from a stressor. The ABC model is problem oriented, structured in three phases (Kristi, 2015). The stages involve in this model include the following

• Developing and maintaining rapport.
• Identifying the problem and developing therapeutic action.
• Coping.

Each of the above phases is applied in our case study as discussed.

The first step of counseling is creating a rapport. It only means establishing a relationship between me and the client, a relationship in which the client feels that I care about his situation. A good rapport should be the one that the helper reflects on the thing the issues raised by the customer. It is important that I develop and maintain the state of understanding between the customer and me. During the counseling session, I will keep myself well composed, open armed and keenly listening in a manner that shows great concern of what the client is saying. Another skill to employ is the use of both open-ended and close-ended questions that will help obtain important information from the client.

The next step of the ABC model is identifying the problem and developing that therapeutic process. It is after establishing a close relationship with the client that I can learn the actual problem. In most cases, what the client presents as the problem may not be the issue in the sense, it is the cause of the emotional challenges facing the client. In the case of my client, at the beginning, it was evident to me that the problem was his drinking problem, but then he thought the problem was his wife and the in-laws. Now that I understand that his problem is the drinking, I have designed a six-week therapeutic session to discuss and help him walk out of the drinking habit. I do not think any medical approach is needed because he does not exhibit signs of dependency on alcohol.

The last stage of the ABC model is coping. Learning to strive in the new environment that excludes old habits. It is a hard thing for patients who are addicted to substance use and alcohol to develop independence. But then with guidance and perseverance several clients have managed, and so can my client. The fact that he acknowledges that it is not right for his family members and to himself will keep hi, out of the problem.

Conclusion

A crisis is made up of four components: occurrence of the precipitating event; the event becomes threatening to an individual; the threatening perception leads to emotional damage; and lastly failure of one's coping methods to go to the serious stage. The above four components help determine whether a particular happening can be described as a crisis. The manner that one deals with a crisis can lead to a positive or negative impact. The positive results lead to strength to the individual. Counseling approaches like the ABC model are critical in ensuring that people go through crisis firmly.