Crisis Intervention Strategies, 9th Edition

Richard K. James, Julia Whisenhunt, Rick Myer

Copyright 2025
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Crisis Intervention Strategies 9th Edition by Richard K. James/Julia Whisenhunt/Rick Myer

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Overview
Meet the Authors
What's New
Features
Table of Contents
Pricing

Overview

James/Whisenhunt/Myer's CRISIS INTERVENTION STRATEGIES, 9th Edition, presents the latest skills and techniques for handling crisis situations. The text features the authors' task and triage assessment model, which illustrates and explains the process of dealing with people in crisis. Using this model, the authors build specific strategies for assessing and handling different crisis situations, accompanied in many cases with dialogue that a practitioner might use when working with the individual in crisis. Updates include new LASER protocol for ethical decision-making, world view of crisis beyond the U.S. border and detail changes in intervention procedures due to COVID-19. The 9th edition also includes videos demonstrating crisis intervention techniques for students who must understand the theoretical underpinnings of crisis intervention theories and apply them in crisis situations.

Meet the Authors

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Richard K. James

Richard "Dick" James is a retired professor emeritus Crader Professor of Counseling at the University of Memphis. He was formerly a junior high school counselor and Title III Innovative Education program director in Mattoon, Illinois. He is a licensed psychologist and licensed professional counselor health service provider and supervisor in Tennessee. He is also a National Certified Counselor and Nationally Certified School Counselor. He trains police officers for crisis intervention with the mentally ill and has provided advanced crisis intervention training for U.S. Border Patrol Peer support teams and consults on crisis intervention planning and techniques with schools, agencies, prisons and businesses.

Julia Whisenhunt

Julia Whisenhunt is a Professor of Counselor Education in the Department of Counseling, Higher Education and Speech-Language Pathology at the University of West Georgia (UWG). She holds licensure as a professional counselor (LPC) in the State of Georgia and she is also a National Certified Counselor (NCC) and a Certified Professional Counseling Supervisor (CPCS) in Georgia. She is trained as an Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) facilitator and is a Disaster Mental Health Volunteer. She specializes in the areas of suicide, self-injury and crisis intervention. She co-authored the CRISIS INTERVENTION ETHICS CASEBOOK, which was published by the American Counseling Association, with Rick A. Myer and Richard K. James.

Rick Myer

Rick A. Myer is a licensed psychologist and has taught in Counselor Education programs at three different universities over the past 35 years. During that time, he served various administrative positions including department chair, doctoral program coordinator and director of a counseling lab. He was also awarded a creative teaching award and received the Highly Commended Award for an article from Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence. In addition to teaching, he has worked in several different settings including a general hospital, psychiatric hospital, residential treatment facility for sexually aggressive children and adolescents, private practice, non-profit agency and a college counseling center. His work included providing crisis intervention and consultation with management for an organization following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He also has provided crisis intervention services or conducted debriefing following four mass shootings, including the recent Walmart shooting in El Paso TX.

What's New

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The new edition details changes the COVID-19 pandemic created in provision of crisis intervention services and what that means for service providers.
The 9th edition has been updated to reflect a more international scope, incorporating research and tactics from countries outside the U.S., in response to the global crisis issues, especially in the post COVID-19 era.
Chapter 15, "Legal and Ethical Issues in Crisis Intervention" content has been integrated throughout the text, enabling a comprehensive exploration of ethical problems and decision-making in relevant chapters for crisis situations.
The author’s new LASER protocol for ethical decision-making in crisis intervention is now incorporated into the Tools chapter and is a fast, efficient tool in helping make difficult ethical decisions in chaotic situations.
The 9th edition details new and emergent theories for topics and how they may be adapted in the tele-behavioral post COVID-19 pandemic era. For example, the emergence of constructivism and making meaning of Robert Neimeyer in the Personal Loss chapter and Relational-Cultural theory, which brings relationships to the forefront of multiculturalism and how it operates in crisis mode.

Features

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A task model gives students and practitioners a systematic way of dealing with people in crisis: Defining the Problem, Ensuring Client Safety, Providing Support, Examining Alternatives, Making Plans and Obtaining Commitment. The triage assessment model is a simple, efficient assessment device that can be used to dictate level of intervention and degree of potential unsafe behavior.
Scenarios in each chapter are designed to put the student in a seat beside the crisis workers as they handle clients. They also discuss why and what the workers are doing. Cases with transcripts of dialogue help illustrate the techniques described and let students "see and listen" to the conversations crisis workers might have in dealing with a client in crisis and why they are being used.
"Focus on the Crisis Worker" sections present techniques that can keep crisis workers from psychological, physical, ethical and legal harm. No other book we know of does this and we believe it is critical information that students should have if they are going to survive both physically and psychologically and prosper in the field.
A multicultural emphasis highlights how crisis and culture interact, including how SAFETY social locations (stability, affect, friction, environment, temperament and yearning) and Relational-Cultural theory apply to the work of crisis intervention when dealing with people from diverse backgrounds and how it can be applied practically and in-the-moment in a crisis.

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Part I: BASIC TRAINING: CRISIS INTERVENTION THEORY AND APPLICATION.
1. Approaching Crisis Intervention.
2. Culturally Effective Helping.
3. The Intervention and Assessment Models.
4. Tools of the Trade.
5. Crisis Case Handling.
6. Telephone and Online Crisis Counseling.
Part II: HANDLING SPECIFIC CRISES: GOING INTO THE TRENCHES.
7. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
8. Crisis of Lethality.
9. Sexual Assault.
10. Partner Violence.
11. The Family in Crisis.
12. Personal Loss: Bereavement and Grief.
13. Crisis in Schools.
Part III: ON THE HOMEFRONT: CRISIS IN THE HUMAN SERVICES WORKPLACE.
14. Violent Behavior in Institutions.
15. Human Service Workers in Crisis: Burnout, Vicarious Traumatization, and Compassion Fatigue.
16. Disaster Response.
17. Chemical Dependency: The Crisis of Addiction (Online in MindTap).
18. Crisis/Hostage Negotiation (Online in MindTap).