Crisis intervention
Crisis intervention is immediate, time-limited support intended to reduce acute distress, restore safety, and help a person regain effective coping.
Psychological first aid: A humane, practical approach to helping people immediately after serious stress or disaster. Its core practices—safety, listening, and practical help—closely inform crisis response.
Psychological crisis: A temporary state in which stress overwhelms a person's usual coping resources and functioning. Crisis intervention addresses this disruption rather than treating every underlying condition.
Crisis hotline: A phone or text service offering immediate emotional support, risk assessment, and connections to further help. Hotlines provide crisis intervention remotely, often when distress first becomes urgent.
Psychotherapy: A structured treatment using psychological methods to address emotional, behavioral, or mental health difficulties. Unlike longer-term therapy, crisis intervention concentrates on immediate stabilization and next steps.
Least restrictive alternative: The option that meets a person's safety and treatment needs while limiting freedom as little as possible. Crisis decisions should favor effective community support over coercive care when safely feasible.
Suicide risk assessment: A clinical process for assessing suicidal thoughts, intent, plans, access to means, and protective factors. Assessing imminent suicide risk can determine whether emergency protection is needed.
Coping: Cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage demands that feel stressful or exceed available resources. Restoring usable coping strategies is a central aim of short-term crisis support.
Mobile crisis team: A community-based team that responds in person to behavioral health crises outside routine clinical settings. Mobile teams bring assessment and support to the place where a crisis is unfolding.
Psychiatric hospitalization: Inpatient care that provides intensive psychiatric assessment, treatment, and supervision in a hospital. Hospitalization is a higher level of containment when safety cannot be maintained elsewhere.
Involuntary commitment: Legal detention for psychiatric evaluation or treatment without a person's consent, under jurisdiction-specific criteria. When voluntary stabilization fails to address imminent danger, legal intervention may be considered.