Crisis support is a form of psychological assistance aimed at helping people who find themselves in crisis situations. Most often, this type of support acts as “emergency aid” in response to a specific extreme trauma. That is, it is provided at the moment when a person experiences an event that causes significant psychological distress and usually occurs suddenly and unexpectedly. This may include the loss of a loved one, loss of home or employment, serious illness, natural disasters, physical violence, rape, or other events that disrupt the normal course of life and cause intense stress. For example, when the war began, many people needed crisis support, as no one knew how to live during wartime.
Advantages of crisis support:
- Rapid response, which helps quickly stabilize a person’s emotional state and prevent actions that may harm their life or health;
- Prevention and reduction of serious long-term consequences such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, or anxiety disorders;
- Reduction of social isolation and reinforcement of social bonds and support, which is especially important in situations where a person may feel detached or isolated.
Crisis support is a short-term intervention that helps a person “survive” and emerge from a state of shock and horror in a short period of time. Further psychological support is then provided through work with a therapist, either in individual or group therapy formats.
Learn more about therapy formats in the sections "Individual Sessions" and "Group Therapy."