Singapore University of Social Sciences

Crisis Counselling

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 January

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
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