Crisis Therapies (IN: Lifelines: Clinical Perspectives on Suicide, ed. by E L Bassuk, S C Schoonover & A D Gill)

Crisis therapies include a range of brief interventions unified by a common set of techniques & principles. These therapies attempt to restore the patient to a precrisis level of functioning & to prevent the consolidation of symptoms into a psychiatric disorder. The author discusses the development of a crisis intervention approach, steps in crisis intervention with suicidal patients, methods of intervention & the choice between the termination of therapy or a transfer into more definitive care.