Crisis Assessment

James and Gilliland (2013) offer a number of individual crisis definitions by citing different authors. However, what is evident is that all definitions point towards an individual facing an obstacle to crucial life goals. For example, Kleespies defines crisis as “a loss of psychological equilibrium or a state of emotional instability that includes elements of depression and anxiety which is caused by an external event with which individuals are unable to cope with at their usual level of ability” (James & Gilliland, 2013, p. 8). Based on this description, it is evident that our 40-year-old client is in an individual crisis. Not only is the client finding it hard to keep up with work, but they are also going through a separation, finding it hard to keep up with the bills and there is the issue of increased weight gain. As such, it is important to assess the client to better under the situation they are in before offering the needed help or rather solution.
Greenstone and Leviton, and James recommend the following tools as the most effective in crises assessment respectively: the American Academy of Crisis Interveners Lethality Scale and the Triage Assessment Scale. These are two extremely helpful tools and ought to be used by all crises counselors to help them …show more content…
In terms of behavioral, there is the need to look at the three different types of responses: avoidance, approach or immobile. Cognitive, on the other hand, involve responses relating to loss, transgression or threat. Finally, affective responses involve feelings of anger or hostility, fear or anxiety, and melancholy or sadness. From the information available, we cannot readily describe the affect present. As such, there needs to be more information that will help show the client’s primary emotions – the feelings the client shares with other people.