Crisis Intervention A Review
Continuing Education
Crisis Intervention: A Review
Raymond B. Flannery, Jr., Ph.D. and George S. Everly, Jr., Ph.D.
ABSTRACT: Critical incidents are sudden, unexpected, often life-threatening time-limited events that
may overwhelm an individual’s capacity to respond adaptively. Frequently, extreme critical incident stressors may result in personal crises, traumatic stress, and even Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. This paper presents a concise, fully-referenced, state-of-the-art review of crisis intervention procedures within the context of Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM; Everly & Mitchell, 1999; Flannery, 1999)
[International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, 2000, 2(2), 119-125].
KEY WORDS: Crisis; crisis intervention; Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM); disaster
The field of crisis intervention is predicated upon the existence of the phenomenon of psychological crisis.
Because crisis intervention is the natural corollary of the psychological crisis, this review begins with a definition of the crisis phenomenon.
The Nature of a Crisis
A crisis occurs when a stressful life event overwhelms an individual’s ability to cope effectively in the face of a perceived challenge or threat (Auerbach & Kilmann, 1997;
Everly & Mitchell, 1999; Raphael, 1986; Sandoval, 1985;
Schwartz, 1971; Wollman, 1993). More specifically, a crisis may be thought of as a response condition wherein:
1) psychological homeostasis has been disrupted;
2) one’s usual coping mechanisms have failed to reestablish homeostasis; and,
3) the distress engendered by the crisis has yielded some evidence of functional impairment (Caplan, 1961, 1964; Everly
& Mitchell, 1999). If a crisis is a response, then what term defines the stressor event?
The term “critical incident” is a term which is frequently confused with the term crisis. Contrary to the crisis response, a critical incident may be thought of as any stressor event
Raymond B. Flannery, Jr., Ph.D., Massachusetts Department of
Crisis Intervention: A Review
Raymond B. Flannery, Jr., Ph.D. and George S. Everly, Jr., Ph.D.
ABSTRACT: Critical incidents are sudden, unexpected, often life-threatening time-limited events that
may overwhelm an individual’s capacity to respond adaptively. Frequently, extreme critical incident stressors may result in personal crises, traumatic stress, and even Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. This paper presents a concise, fully-referenced, state-of-the-art review of crisis intervention procedures within the context of Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM; Everly & Mitchell, 1999; Flannery, 1999)
[International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, 2000, 2(2), 119-125].
KEY WORDS: Crisis; crisis intervention; Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM); disaster
The field of crisis intervention is predicated upon the existence of the phenomenon of psychological crisis.
Because crisis intervention is the natural corollary of the psychological crisis, this review begins with a definition of the crisis phenomenon.
The Nature of a Crisis
A crisis occurs when a stressful life event overwhelms an individual’s ability to cope effectively in the face of a perceived challenge or threat (Auerbach & Kilmann, 1997;
Everly & Mitchell, 1999; Raphael, 1986; Sandoval, 1985;
Schwartz, 1971; Wollman, 1993). More specifically, a crisis may be thought of as a response condition wherein:
1) psychological homeostasis has been disrupted;
2) one’s usual coping mechanisms have failed to reestablish homeostasis; and,
3) the distress engendered by the crisis has yielded some evidence of functional impairment (Caplan, 1961, 1964; Everly
& Mitchell, 1999). If a crisis is a response, then what term defines the stressor event?
The term “critical incident” is a term which is frequently confused with the term crisis. Contrary to the crisis response, a critical incident may be thought of as any stressor event
Raymond B. Flannery, Jr., Ph.D., Massachusetts Department of
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