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Crisis Intervention Training for Disaster Workers: An Introduction

George W. Doherty, MS, LPC
Rocky Mountain DMH Institute Press (2007)
ISBN 9781932690422
Reviewed by Dr. Michael Philliber for RebeccasReads (4/08)

Awareness of how crises affect various people-groups, thinking through the important role disaster workers play in re-establishing normalcy in people’s shaken lives, and planning immediate and long-term approaches to help traumatized people recapture mental equilibrium are vital aspects of a crisis intervention program. George W. Doherty paves the way in his book, “Crisis Intervention Training for Disaster Workers: An Introduction.” This intense course manual is ideal for aiding Mental Health professionals, as well other specialized and helping communities, to establish a workable, multi-modal, well-informed crisis intervention program.

The bulk of “Crisis Intervention Training for Disaster Workers” is informing the participant on defining crisis and its effects on people (chapters 1 and 2); how various cultural groups deal with crisis (chapters 3-6); and two devastating forms of disaster (chapter 10 and 11). In these chapters Doherty pulls in loads of research to assist the reader’s grasp of the variegated aspects of calamity, along with the multifaceted responses people have. These eight chapters give significant assistance to disaster responders on what to look for and the reactions they can expect. One of the groups the author spends a large portion of time describing is children and how various forms of catastrophe affect them.

The middle section of this course manual (chapter 7-9) describes the layered approaches needed for the psychological first aid necessary to help in a crisis, along with the long-term aid Mental Health workers might need to apply to hurting, distressed people. In chapter 7 Doherty lists reasonable and sensible suggestions for establishing and training a Crisis Intervention Team and setting out the intervention strategies they will more than likely need to use. Chapter 8 puts forth helpful proposals for identifying and dealing with stress for both the responder and the crisis victims. There is also a strengths/weaknesses type of analysis of Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR) and Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) in this chapter.  Finally, there is a discussion in chapter 9 on resiliency and recovery, and the benefit of long-term crisis counseling for some victims.

At the end of the book the author has added a mass of references and resources the reader or course taker will find valuable. There is a section listing websites with more information and material.  There is an appendix with disaster scenarios for participants to work through, as well as a suggested Disaster Victim’s Needs Assessment. Finally, because this manual is part of a 15 contact hour CEU course, there is a course test and instructions on how to obtain the proper certificate.

“Crisis Intervention Training for Disaster Workers: An Introduction” is just what the title says it is. This is a beneficial and informative tool to raise awareness and plan levelheaded crisis intervention.

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