Harry Keener – Crisis Counseling: Strategies and Interventions to Safely Manage Clients

Outline

Legal and Ethical Obligations in Crises Situations

• The similarities & differences between ethical and legal responsibilities
• When to use safety contracts and “no-harm” contracts
• Court cases and mental health law that impact crisis management
• Mandated reporting
• Documentation strategies that protect you legally and ethically

Clinical Assessment of Psychiatric Disorders

• Understanding and identifying psychotic symptoms
• Psychiatric disorders that heighten risk of crises
• Interplay of substance abuse, trauma and mental health emergencies
• Assessing and diagnosing common psychiatric disorders

Psychotropic Medication and Mental Health Crises

• Improve knowledge of psychotropic medications and their intended effect
• Psychotic medications and dangerous interactional affects
• Metabolic issues with typical and atypical anti-psychotics
• Medications with narrow therapeutic rangers
• How to assertively collaborate with prescribers
• How to work with clients to safely manage medication side effects

Risk Assessment in Suicidal Clients

• Risk versus protective factors in suicide
• Identifying clients at high risk for suicide
• Develop clinical safety plans
• Strategies and techniques to assess suicide risk
• Difference between self-injurious behavior and suicide
• When to hospitalize and how
• Managing suicidal clients in an outpatient setting
• Psychometric suicide risk assessments

Homicidal and Violence Risk Assessment

• How to safely assess the homicidal client
• Maintaining safety for yourself, co-workers and clients
• Identifying the types of aggression
• Preparing for and managing client violence with the PAR model
• Risk factors for violence
• Handling threats of violence in the office, school and workplace
• When and how to hospitalize

Emergencies from Substance Abuse

• Assessing the chemically dependent client
• Interview strategies and techniques
• When to refer for medically-supervised detoxification
• The multiple levels of care addiction
• Strategies for assessing and working with dually diagnosed clients

Burnout, Compassion Fatigue and Vicarious Trauma: Therapists in Crisis

• Burnout, vicarious trauma, secondary trauma, and compassion fatigue
• Interplay between burnout and compassion fatigue
• Strategies for counseling the burned out therapist
• Techniques to address vicarious trauma
• Use of the PRoQOL5 instrument to better inform treatment