Fundamentals of Crisis Counseling

An indispensable handbook for assisting clients in crisis and in their journey toward healing

Integrating practical training with both research and theory, Fundamentals of Crisis Counseling offers students and professionals proven hands-on techniques to assist clients in recovery from crisis and towards an eventual return to their day-to-day lives.

Written in the author's gentle yet purposeful voice, this reader-friendly guide is filled with lessons on current evidence-based counseling, how to operate as a client stress manager, and information on finding resources that facilitate client resilience. In addition, the author helps counselors improve counseling effectiveness by gaining a better understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses and emphasizes the importance of self-care.

Stemming from the author's thirty-five years of experience as a crisis counselor, this book contains valuable information on:

• Crisis theory and intervention models

• Concepts, techniques, assessment, and treatment for disaster mental health work

• Legal and ethical concerns regarding working with individuals, groups, couples, and families

• Assessment and instrument selection

• Main concepts and techniques of brief therapy, motivational interviewing, stages of change, positive psychology, grief therapy, client resilience, and spirituality

• Multicultural crisis counseling techniques centered on age, gender, sexual orientation, and ethnicity

• Counselor self-care complete with case studies and examples

Ideal for all mental health professionals looking for guidance on best practices in crisis counseling, this book is also suitable for training professionals and counseling students. The book includes access to an online instructor's test bank, PowerPoint slides, and syllabi in line with 2009 Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) standards.

Fundamentals of Crisis Counseling imparts useful knowledge on little utilized crisis counseling abilities, preparing counselors at every stage to effectively respond to the immediate and lasting affects of crisis.

Acknowledgments xi

CHAPTER ONE Introduction/Overview 1

CHAPTER TWO Crisis Theories, Domains, and Intervention Models 13

CHAPTER THREE Disaster Mental Health Counseling 27

CHAPTER FOUR Settings and Commonly Occurring Diagnoses 41

CHAPTER FIVE Special Populations and Legal/Ethical Issues 73

CHAPTER SIX Assessment 95

CHAPTER SEVEN Current Additional Therapies and Concepts 149

CHAPTER EIGHT Working With Different Cultures 191

CHAPTER NINE Self-Care 217

References 237

Author Index 259

Subject Index 265

Geri Miller, PhD, Diplomate in Counseling Psychology, ABPP, is a Full Professor in the Department of Human Development and Psychological Counseling at Appalachian State University. She is a Disaster Mental Health Worker with the American Red Cross and has responded to local, state, and national disasters. She has been a CACREP Site Team Member since 1992. The author of two books, including Learning the Language of Addiction Counseling, Third Edition (published by Wiley), Dr. Miller was awarded the 2009 Ella Stephens Barrett Award for excellence in professional leadership, the most coveted honor bestowed by the North Carolina Counseling Association.

An indispensable handbook for assisting clients in crisis and in their journey toward healing

Integrating practical training with both research and theory, Fundamentals of Crisis Counseling offers students and professionals proven hands-on techniques to assist clients in recovery from crisis and towards an eventual return to their day-to-day lives.

Written in the author's gentle yet purposeful voice, this reader-friendly guide is filled with lessons on current evidence-based counseling, how to operate as a client stress manager, and information on finding resources that facilitate client resilience. In addition, the author helps counselors improve counseling effectiveness by gaining a better understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses and emphasizes the importance of self-care.

Stemming from the author's thirty-five years of experience as a crisis counselor, this book contains valuable information on:

• Crisis theory and intervention models

• Concepts, techniques, assessment, and treatment for disaster mental health work

• Legal and ethical concerns regarding working with individuals, groups, couples, and families

• Assessment and instrument selection

• Main concepts and techniques of brief therapy, motivational interviewing, stages of change, positive psychology, grief therapy, client resilience, and spirituality

• Multicultural crisis counseling techniques centered on age, gender, sexual orientation, and ethnicity

• Counselor self-care complete with case studies and examples

Ideal for all mental health professionals looking for guidance on best practices in crisis counseling, this book is also suitable for training professionals and counseling students. The book includes access to an online instructor's test bank, PowerPoint slides, and syllabi in line with 2009 Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) standards.

Fundamentals of Crisis Counseling imparts useful knowledge on little utilized crisis counseling abilities, preparing counselors at every stage to effectively respond to the immediate and lasting affects of crisis.