Families and CISM: Developing a Comprehensive Program

Course Description:
Any given crisis can be contagious! Any person who is part of a family unit and who has been affected by a crisis, trauma, or disaster brings the crisis home to the members of the family. The crisis can spread to family members directly through abuse, abandonment, neglect or indirectly through isolation, withdrawal and the like. Family support services should be part of any truly integrated CISM program. Its absence clearly weakens the potential CISM effectiveness. Critical incident stress management with families is a complex topic with specific issues that need to be addressed when working with families.

Program Highlights:

  • Family & Services Needed
  • Family Stress: Types, Sources, and Effects
  • What is a “Crisis” for a Family
  • Family CISM vs. Standard CISM
  • Introduction of the “Example Population”
  • Program Development
  • Education and Information Programs
  • CISM Family Interventions
  • Working with the “Immediate Family”
  • Children and Trauma

Course Length: 2 Days (14 Contact Hours)

Intended Audience:
This course is vital for CISM teams, emergency service professionals, their spouses, significant others, families, organizational leaders, mental health professionals and clergy to establish and maintain an essential family component to CISM network systems.

Group Crisis Intervention should be viewed as prerequisite and Individual Crisis Intervention and Peer Support is recommended.

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