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  • Essay / Telephone Crisis Intervention in Psychology

    During World War II, mental health personnel (psychiatrists and psychologists) began seeing extreme cases of “battle fatigue” among soldiers who participated in the First World War. Due to the urgency of sending them to the next war as quickly as possible, mental specialists began to treat them with a targeted approach. This targeted approach is known as “crisis intervention”; concept introduced by Lemberger Freiwilligern in the 19th century. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayAccording to Slaiku (1990) cited in Beck (2007), a crisis is defined as “a temporary state of upheaval and disorganization, characterized primarily by an individual's inability to cope with a particular situation using usual problem-solving methods, and by the possibility of a radically positive or negative outcome. Therefore, crisis intervention is a branch of clinical psychology whose fundamental tools are focused on treating clients "...who are experiencing traumatic life events or are in a state of acute crisis." After World War II, many crisis intervention organizations such as the Anti-Suicide Department of the Salvation Army in 1906 in London, the National Save-a-life League in New York in 1906, and the Center for the Prevention of Suicide suicide in the early 1950s in Los Angeles. The first crisis telephone line was created by the National League to save a life. Although crisis hotlines existed, with the opening of the Suicide Prevention Center, crisis intervention or crisis intervention hotlines began to become more widespread across the United States. These first lines had suicide as their main objective. These lines began to have a great demand on other topics or other types of crises (not just suicide). That's why organizations and the government have started opening new phone lines for other types of crises, like rape, drug and adolescent helplines. Currently, between 34 and 45 million crisis calls are made each year. Additionally, there are significant differences between each hotline; the differences are related to procedures or techniques. The main focus of the trial is telephone crisis intervention: the advantages, disadvantages and techniques used for this. These techniques are proposed by James and Gilliland in their book “Crisis Intervention Strategies”. One of the biggest benefits of using crisis hotlines is convenience. Telephones facilitate this opportunity by making the service available 24/7 and allowing the person to call from anywhere. Another advantage is anonymity; users of these services often experience feelings related to shame, self-blame, guilt or embarrassment. Due to anonymity, customers are more likely to use the service. Additionally, cost-effectiveness is a huge advantage. For both users and organizations, crisis helplines are inexpensive. Finally, the scope of application is broader; therefore, rural communities without psychiatric services can receive this type of help. On the other hand, the disadvantages are related to the dependence “on the content, tone of voice, pitch speed and emotional content of the client”. In addition, the worker must have the ability.