A Survey of Telephone Answering Services in Suicide Prevention and Crisis Intervention Agencies*

ABSTRACT: The telephone service established by directors of suicide prevention and crisis intervention services is generally given little careful consideration. Many agencies take their telephone systems for granted, assuming that almost any system will function adequately if an operator is available and a crisis worker is on call. There are a number of important issues at stake that should be carefully considered before a program is established that uses any system other than full-time coverage by the trained crisis worker at a permanent location. In order to investigate just what really happens under the various systems in use, a series of 76 calls was placed to 19 different emergency crisis services in the southeastern United States. Times were recorded to show how much time elapsed, through what various systems, to get an actual crisis worker on the line. There were marked differences across the eight different systems identified. The results clearly indicate that crisis services are in danger of unknowingly providing inferior and dangerously low quality service unless they maintain maximum control over their own telephone answering system 24 hours a day.     

Evaluation of Crisis Intervention Programs and Personnel: A Summary and Critique*

ABSTRACT: Many of the suicide prevention centers that developed throughout the country during the last decade have evolved into general crisis intervention services. At the same time, they have stimulated the development of a wide variety of agencies that utilize nonprofessional volunteers who, primarily through telephone contact, provide helping services to people in crisis. This paper presents a critique of three particular problem areas relating to the use of volunteer personnel, along with a summary of research aimed at providing new technologies for their solution. Methods have been developed for rating on-the-job performance of crisis intervention workers, based upon criteria that are thought to have general application to crisis intervention centers. Efforts to describe personality characteristics of volunteers are reported, along with suggestions for the direction of additional investigations. Finally, the issue of assessing the outcome of crisis intervention cases is summarized. A four-phase conceptualization of the crisis intervention process is proposed, and appropriate measures of outcome at each point in the process are suggested. The overall significance of this type of research is discussed in terms of the need for standards by which to evaluate crisis intervention services.     

社会焦虑与危机干预

通过分析社会焦虑的成因及其所带来的危机后果 ,从积极的角度予以心理干预 ,使人们失衡的认知功能和情感反应趋于稳定 ,行为合理化 ,并指出目前危机干预存在的问题和对未来的展望     

关于严重突发事件危机干预的研究评述

对国外关于严重突发事件危机干预的研究作了概览与评述。认为有两点值得关注：其一,危机干预中的评估的重要性。在干预中,评估是进行干预的前提条件,更贯穿干预过程的始终。干预者必须通过不断评估确定危机的严重程度,不断确定当事人的心理状态,才能确定采用相应的应付策略和支持系统等。其二,国外许多不同的干预模式具有3个特征：一是阶段划分技术,将干预过程划分为不同的阶段,针对不同阶段的特点采取不同的措施与策略。二是整合倾向,将不同的干预模式、支持资源加以整合,使干预的效果达到最佳水平。三是特异性发展,即针对不同人群、不同应激情境作深度拓展,发挥干预的特异性效果。“非典”流行对我国的危机干预体系是一个严峻的考验,我国面对严重突发事件的危机干预体系还有待于健全。虽然不能照搬外国的干预模式,但是其思路与技术、经验与教训还是值得我们借鉴的。     

心理咨询师在危机干预中的作用

危机干预工作中需要专业人员的参与,而心理咨询师就是这样的专业队伍。他们不仅应具备该职业的基本素质,如道德素质、反省能力和诚实品质,而且还应具备特殊的专业素质,如生活经验、镇静心态、灵活性、充沛精力、快速反应能力和换位思考能力等。当然,除去日常专业训练所养成的各种素质以外,心理咨询师也要掌握有关心理危机干预技术,如关注、倾听、评估以及某些具体的危机干预措施。最后介绍了国内外危机干预中心理咨询师的主要工作领域和服务形式,并探讨了我国心理咨询师参与危机干预工作的一些设想。     

Evaluation of a Suicide Prevention Center by Sampling the Population at Risk*

ABSTRACT: At present there are no clear guidelines for assessing the effectiveness of suicide prevention and crisis centers. This report focuses on one readily available source of data, specifically that segment of the population at risk made up of persons admitted to the inpatient service of a mental health center due to depressive and/or suicidal states, including suicide attempts. To determine the role of the suicide prevention center in providing services to this group, 575 persons meeting these criteria were interviewed. The findings included the following: (a) 11 percent had utilized suicide prevention center services, with 59 percent of these experiencing substantial benefit; (b) 20 percent stated they were unaware of the center; (c) 8 percent expressed the view that calling the center would be inappropriate because a suicide attempt was not imminent; and (d) 26 percent indicated an inclination to call the center in the event of subsequent difficulties. Experience suggests that response to a crisis (intervention) as well as response to low lethality callers with “everyday problems” (prevention) constitute valid functions of a suicide prevention and crisis center. Preoccupation with short-term goals, such as reducing the apparent suicide rate, should not dominate the conceptualizing of program evaluation methods.     

Bound by Infinities: Technology,Immediacy and Our Environmental Crisis*

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis - This paper explores the relationship between human desire, technology, and imagination, emphasizing (1) the phenomenology of this relationship, and (2) its...     

四川汶川大地震心理危机干预的思考

面对大地震我们如何应对？突发的灾难除了顷刻间造成大量人员伤亡和财产损失外,还会对人们的心理产生巨大影响。帮助灾区人民渡过心理创伤,减少心理疾病的发生和对心理社会功能的后遗影响。灾后心理危机同样是灾难,灾后心理疏导需专业人员,抗震救灾与灾后的心理干预同等重要。     

儿童心理危机的干预策略

地震突发性强,危害严重,往往使儿童产生思维不清、意志失控、情感紊乱等心理危机,如果不及时进行心理疏导,儿童可能长期沉浸在痛苦中难以自拔,身心健康受到影响,最终酿成精神疾病,影响其一生。通过概括疏理7种常用儿童心理危机干预策略,以期为灾后儿童心理危机提供参考     

替代性创伤：危机干预中救援者的自我保护问题

替代性创伤是危机干预中的常见现象,它给救援者的身心带来不同程度的伤害,因此,需要及时关注救援者的替代性创伤问题,以维护其自身心理健康。已有研究表明,替代性创伤的成因主要与救援者个人自身因素以及特定的环境因素有关;当前,对替代性创伤的干预主要包括了提升专业水平、掌握自我调节方法、开展团体分享等策略     

灾后心理危机干预的个体化和动态性

人们对重大灾难的心理应激反应有一定的规律性和普遍性,但又有复杂性和特殊性.要根据应激反应的不同阶段和不同人群产生的不同心理问题采取相应心理危机干预措施,做到具体问题具体分析.对灾后人群进行心理危机干预的过程中,要采取系统性、动态性原则,从而达到个体最优化,消除或减少心理问题及心理因素相关生理问题,尽早恢复社会功能.     

Managing Elder Suicide: A Profile of American and Canadian Crisis Prevention Centers

Suicides among older adults in the United States and Canada in the last decade have accounted for an increasing share of all suicides. In both countries the use of firearms among older adults has steadily increased. Despite these trends, little is known about the extent to which crisis centers are prepared to prevent elder suicide. A survey of AAS-listed crisis prevention centers examined the training, knowledge, and current practices relevant to elder suicide among personnel in 321 crisis prevention centers in both countries. Results revealed insufficient training, a lack of familiarity with recent suicide trends, and limited outreach to older adults.     

CISM对我国建立灾难心理危机干预体系的启示

危机事件压力管理(CISM)是一个庞大的综合性危机干预体系,涵盖了当代整个危机领域的多种危机干预内容,综合考虑到在个人、团体、家庭、组织甚至整个社会等各个层面的应用.着重介绍了CISM的功能、核心内容以及该体系在灾难心理危机干预中的应用情况与效果,并提出了CISM对我国建立灾难心理危机干预体系的启示.