#153 Psychological First Aid Q&A
1) What are the definitions and goals of Psychological First Aid (PFA?). What are some of the action steps employed in PFA?
Psychological First Aid “seeks to address the immediate crisis situation and provide immediate relief, possibly to a wide range of individuals.” PFA first seeks to address the obvious issues a person experiences and to work through their hierarchy of needs. There are eight different core actions for someone providing Psychological First Aid. Such as contacting the survivors providing safety and comfort, stabilization, information gathering, practical assistance, connection with social supports, information on coping, and linkage with collaborative services. In my opinion the two most important things a PFA provider can do is to provide safety and comfort and then connect them to the available resources, although all the steps are important. One of the roles of the provider is to “To link survivors with available services needed at the time or in the future.” When providers link survivors with resources they help to relieve stress in what may seem like a hopeless situation.
2) What are common traits/attributes of effective, competent crisis interventionists?
The effective traits of crisis interventionists are similar to the traits of a good pastor or parent. They acknowledge the issues that are presented, seeking to understand where the survivor is coming from. The provider ought to “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” Romans 12:15 (NASB) while understanding why this is the case. They must know how to think about the issues the survivors are experiencing and how to frame those issues within their own worldview so that they do not become overwhelmed.
3) In what ways might religious/spiritual issues come up during crisis work?
All people have some religious beliefs, when people are in crisis these beliefs may come into question and shake the foundation of who the survivor believes they are. Such as a Christian may question God’s love for them if their child dies. The fundamental beliefs of survivors inform how they process the trauma, how they respond to the trauma, and the resources available to them. In my church community recently, a teenage girl committed suicide and her Christian friends were also discussing committing suicide with her. They needed to process their trauma in such a way through their Christian beliefs to formulate how they think about their friends suicide. The surviving girls needed to know that they were not alone, the parents needed to know how to speak to their daughters about the trauma. And they needed to know the resources available to them. The friendships between the girls needed to be maintained but also monitored due to their all considering suicide, they all needed counseling, and the parents also received ongoing pastoral counseling about the issues.
1. Richard K. James and Burl E. Gilliland, Crisis Intervention Strategies, 8th ed. (Boston: Cengage Learning, 2017), 1-6f.
2. Ibid. 1-6f.
