Crisis Intervention and Trauma Response: Theory and Practice

The doctor said that the surgery on my wife's cancer was a failure and that there was nothing more that they could do. I felt as if I was in a bad movie, and everything around me had come to a halt.
---James G., husband of a cancer victim

Crisis Intervention and Trauma Response are short term, problem-oriented, therapeutic interventions whose goal is to produce constructive change in the life situation of the client as quickly and directly as possible. Written in a lively and informative style, the authors present their successful General Crisis Response model for intervention. Using real life case examples, the authors encourage therapists to focus on clients' inner strengths rather than on pathologies that need to be "fixed," to help clients (like James G.) cope. The book is filled with exercises to develop techniques for building verbal and non-verbal skills, awareness of individual and cultural differences, and much more. A Crisis and Trauma Assessment checklist is included for effective therapeutic interventions, whether in your office or at a trauma site. The authors' down-to-earth approach to this topic will appeal to crisis intervention professionals as well as teachers and students.

Barbara Rubin Wainrib, EdD, is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist in independent practice in Montreal.