Crisis Interventions - SAGE Publications Ltd

5 Crisis InterventionsSherry was a sophomore at an Ivy League institution when she committed sui-cide. Her parents, who amidst great hardship had emigrated from China, weredevastated by their loss. They could not understand what they had done wrongand continued to blame themselves for the death of their daughter. With encour-agement from Sherry s college counselor, the family eventually agreed to attendfamily counseling, although they did not have much confidence that it wouldhelp. Working from an empowering and ecological framework, the therapist sencouragement was family identified what they had done well for their children, the socialstressors prevalent in their upper-middle-class suburb, and ways to support theirsurviving children. Receiving information about the progression of grief reactionsand what they could anticipate in the future helped the family feel that theycould conquer a hopeless situation.

Hurricane Katrina in September, 2005, two individuals I worked with epito-mized the differences between a crisis and a trauma: Amelia had moved from New York City to New Orleans to seek employment. She was unable to evacuate the city before the hurricane hit. She temporarily stayed at the shelter where I worked as a disaster responder.

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  Interventions, Crisis, Hurricane, Katrina, Hurricane katrina, Crisis intervention

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