Crisis Counselling

Singapore University of Social Sciences

Crisis Counselling (COU356)

Synopsis

This course aims to equip students with an overall understanding and appreciation of crisis response work. Students would be exposed to crisis work in different contexts, and develop basic crisis intervention skills. As counsellors-to-be, it is important that students are able to apply crisis work concepts to complement their counselling skills. This course will present the basic concepts underlying crisis work, and provide opportunities for students to practise the application of crisis work through experiential sessions and assignments. At the end of the course, students should possess the ability to differentiate crisis work from counselling and be able to formulate crisis intervention strategies for a variety of crisis scenarios.

Level: 3
Credit Units: 5
Presentation Pattern: EVERY JAN

Topics

What is a crisis?
Reactions in crisis
The ABC Model
Communication skills in crisis
Suicide- symptoms
Suicide- assessment
Suicide- intervention
Referrals and follow-ups
Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM)
Mass disasters
Circles of Vulnerability (COV)
Crisis intervention for groups and mass disaster
Self-care as a crisis work
Strategic planning
Beyond crisis intervention

Learning Outcome

Use a model to carry out crisis intervention
Expand knowledge of possible interventions in crisis work
Develop competence in handling clients undergoing a crisis
Interpret the clients in their individual context (crisis)
Modify crisis intervention principles to cater to different crisis scenarios
Appreciate the possible roles of counsellors in different situations
Develop and practise active listening for client’s perceptions of crisis
Use appropriate communicating skills for someone in crisis
Display confidence in communicating with someone in crisis
Use the ABC Model to guide crisis intervention
Analyse risk of suicide using appropriate assessment tools
Discuss ways to manage crisis situation
Formulate strategies in crisis situation
Select appropriate follow-up plans for persons in crisis