In my work as a counselor with children and families in crises, I have been privileged to witness miracles of change in families. Though it's a painful process, a crisis can be a blessing in disguise. When crisis and change invade your life you can think of a Y in the road. You can change for the better or you can change for the worse, but you can't keep moving down the road you were on.
Family crises come in many forms. A crisis may be developmental - marriage, childbirth, puberty, aging, or any transition between the stages of life. Or, the crisis may be situational - moving, financial problems, relationship problems, substance abuse, mental and emotional disorders, or physical illness. I'm sure you can add your own critical experience to the list. A crisis occurs when families encounter a transition they cannot handle with the coping skills and problem-solving methods they have always used. In the early stages of the transitional crisis individuals will feel heightened tension as they attempt to cope with change using strategies that are familiar but unfortunately, not effective. The result of these ineffective coping mechanisms is the stage of disorganization. Negative emotions such as anxiety and depression become prominent. Rational thinking is blocked. The individual feels helpless, hopeless, and in need of support. This is a critical point in determining the resolution of the crisis. Depending on the individual's response to this period of maximal stress and minimal coping defenses, as well as the level of support available, the crisis at this point could lead to either 1) resolution with new coping skills in place; 2) maladaptation with no resolution of the issues that led to the crises, or 3) major disorganization, psychotic episode, mental or emotional disorder, or escape into substance abuse.
View a Chart that Describes the Four Stages of a Crisis - 1. Mounting tension, 2. Plateau of Maximum Tension and Disorganization. 3. Mobilization of Resources. 4. Adaptation or Maladaptation. From an article on Crisis Management by Alan Rosen in The Medical Journal of Australia.
View a Description of The Crisis Process from the Telephone Counseling and Referral Service of Tallahassee, Florida.
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