Про особливості психологічних кризових інтервенцій та кризового консультування

Summary

The session explains how to distinguish ordinary psychological counseling from crisis counseling and immediate psychological aid. It also discusses professional boundaries, volunteer work, support groups, and the value of supervision.

Types of crises and how they present

• Normative crises are expected parts of development or life transitions, such as adolescence, family changes, career transitions, or retirement. They can be difficult but are not inherently abnormal; they may create tensions that prompt development.
• Situational or non-normative crises arise in response to external events, including war, violence, disasters, illness, divorce, or other major life changes. An event can trigger a crisis without necessarily causing lasting psychological trauma.
• Existential crises involve meaning, values, and a person’s worldview. They may lead to substantial personal change and growth, but should not be confused with unresolved distress from a past event.
• An acute crisis is more than strong emotion. A person may feel threatened, disoriented, helpless, or unable to cope. Usual coping strategies may fail, while clear thinking and decision-making become harder.
• Crises are generally time-limited, but avoidance or ineffective coping can leave a person stuck in a prolonged or “trans-crisis” state. This can drain energy and contribute to depressive symptoms, low motivation, and a loss of meaning.

Counseling, crisis intervention, and first psychological aid

• General psychological counseling can support self-understanding, personal development, relationships, behavior change, and problem-solving. It may be a gradual, longer-term process. Providing information or psychoeducation is a distinct, more limited form of support.
• Crisis counseling focuses on the person’s immediate condition and what they need to function and make decisions again. It can be brief—even a single short meeting—and is more structured and, when necessary, more active or directive than ordinary counseling.
• The goal is to stabilize the person, reconnect them with their own resources and coping strategies, and help them identify a viable next step. The psychologist should generally help the person find a solution rather than simply prescribe one. If the person cannot maintain their safety or basic functioning, the professional may need to take a more active role.
• First psychological aid addresses urgent needs. The helper assesses what kind of support is required—including medical or other specialist help—prioritizes safety, reduces distress, and helps restore basic functioning. Referral may be needed to medical, legal, or other services. Disaster scenes require appropriately trained responders; psychologists should not enter such settings without relevant preparation.

Six-step crisis intervention approach

The speaker presents a six-step model in two broad phases:

1. Listen and assess
   • Define the problem that brought the person into crisis.
   • Assess immediate safety and available support.
   • Understand the person’s condition and the circumstances behind it.
2. Take action
   • Explore possible alternatives.
   • Make a realistic plan with the person.
   • Agree on and support concrete actions that can help stabilize the situation.

Simple measures—such as offering water, using breathing exercises, or practicing progressive muscle relaxation—may help reduce distress and restore the person’s capacity to think and act.

Principles and boundaries

The speaker highlights three things a crisis helper should avoid:

• Do not catastrophize: Avoid exaggerating the danger or implying that nothing can improve.
• Do not trivialize: Do not minimize or dismiss what the person is experiencing.
• Do not disable the person: Do not take over tasks they can manage themselves. Help restore their agency rather than solving everything for them.

Helpers should avoid unrealistic reassurance and promises. Support should be honest, grounded, and responsive to the person’s actual needs.

A psychologist should clarify the client’s underlying request rather than assume the first stated complaint is the whole issue. Paraphrasing and carefully chosen questions can help reveal what the person truly wants or needs.

Work in schools and other organizations

• The speakers argue that a psychologist working within an organization must account for the organization’s responsibilities and the needs of the people it serves.
• In educational settings, psychoeducation and informational or educational counseling are often central. Crisis support and first psychological aid have also become more important, including for teachers and parents—not only students.
• Teachers may themselves be facing loss, stress, or other crises. Building trust through educational and preventive work may make them more willing to seek individual help.
• School psychologists should maintain professional boundaries. The discussion cautions against providing psychotherapy or psychoanalysis as though it were ordinary school counseling, and against bringing personal esoteric practices into professional work.
• Support groups for colleagues in the same workplace may raise confidentiality and safety concerns, especially when participants must continue working together and may fear that what they share could later be used against them. The speakers stress the need for genuinely safe, voluntary conditions.

Volunteer work and supervision

• Volunteers are encouraged to examine their own motives and limits. Helping should come from having something to offer, not from a need to rescue others or meet one’s own needs through the people being helped.
• Volunteer activities may provide psychosocial support, companionship, and a welcoming space. These are not automatically psychological counseling. More specialized interventions require appropriate training and supervision.
• Overhelping can make recipients less independent. Volunteers should support people in regaining their own capacity rather than taking over their problems.
• The speaker recommends limiting volunteer work to a sustainable amount—citing three hours a week as a guideline—and emphasizes the risk of burnout, secondary trauma, and other effects on the helper.
• Supervision is important for professional development, ethical practice, and managing difficult or high-risk cases. It can help practitioners consider different perspectives without simply handing them an answer. The speaker also emphasizes that psychologists need to care for their own health and resources.

Course discussed

The session also promotes Ruslana Moroz’s online course on crisis interventions and crisis counseling. As described during the meeting, it includes theory, case discussions, role-play and practical exercises, multiple modules, and a final case-management assignment. The stated aim is to help participants distinguish what kind of support a client needs and practice relevant counseling tools.

Speakers and sources featured

Speakers and participants

• Ruslana Moroz — Main presenter and course author; described by the host as a crisis psychologist and trauma therapist.
• The host/moderator — Introduces the session, asks questions, discusses school psychology, and presents the course; not clearly named in the subtitles.
• Oksana — Participant who asks about empathic support groups and course supervision, and shares her impressions.
• Anastasia — Participant who briefly says she is in her first year of work.
• Olena Kornienko — Addressed by name in connection with support groups; the subtitles appear to include her response, but speaker attribution is unclear.
• Other participants — Contribute through chat or brief comments; not all are identified by name.

People, organizations, and examples mentioned

• Carl Rogers and Nancy McWilliams are mentioned in connection with counseling and psychological assessment.
• A six-step crisis intervention model is discussed; its attribution is unclear in the auto-generated subtitles.
• The Headspace youth-space model in Denmark and youth centers associated with the Olena Zelenska Foundation are cited as examples of supportive spaces.
• Svetlana Trofimenko is named as a course assistant and contact, but is not clearly heard speaking in the subtitles.