AIRS Crisis Intervention Strategies 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In Roberts' Seven-Stage Crisis Intervention Model, what is the FIRST stage?
- Establish rapport and engage the client
- Plan and conduct a crisis assessment, including lethality (Correct answer)
- Identify the major problems or crisis precipitants
- Develop and formulate an action plan
Correct answer: Plan and conduct a crisis assessment, including lethality
Roberts' model begins with a biopsychosocial and lethality assessment before rapport-building and problem identification.
Question 2: A caller says she has been saving up her medication and plans to take all of it tonight. Which factor MOST increases the assessed level of suicide risk?
- She is calling late at night
- She has a specific plan, a method, and access to the means (Correct answer)
- She says she feels tired
- She mentions she lives in an apartment
Correct answer: She has a specific plan, a method, and access to the means
A specific plan combined with available lethal means and a timeline indicates high, imminent risk.
Question 3: Which statement BEST reflects current best practice when asking about suicide?
- Avoid the word 'suicide' so you do not plant the idea
- Only ask if the caller brings up self-harm first
- Ask directly and clearly, such as 'Are you thinking about killing yourself?' (Correct answer)
- Ask the caller's family members instead of the caller
Correct answer: Ask directly and clearly, such as 'Are you thinking about killing yourself?'
Research shows that asking directly about suicide does not increase risk and helps uncover it.
Question 4: During a crisis call, the I&R specialist summarizes: 'So you lost your job today and you're scared you won't make rent.' This technique is called:
- Paraphrasing (Correct answer)
- Confrontation
- Advice-giving
- Minimizing
Correct answer: Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing restates the caller's message in the specialist's own words to show understanding and check accuracy.
Question 5: A caller in acute crisis is too overwhelmed to write down referral information. What is the MOST appropriate action?
- Read the full list of ten agencies slowly
- End the call and ask them to call back when calmer
- Tell them to search online later
- Give one or two prioritized referrals and, with consent, offer a warm transfer or follow-up (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Give one or two prioritized referrals and, with consent, offer a warm transfer or follow-up
People in crisis have reduced cognitive capacity, so limited, prioritized referrals and active linkage work best.
Question 6: Which phrase is MOST likely to escalate an agitated caller?
- 'I can hear how frustrated you are.'
- 'Calm down, you're overreacting.' (Correct answer)
- 'Let's work on this together.'
- 'Help me understand what happened.'
Correct answer: 'Calm down, you're overreacting.'
Telling someone to calm down or that they are overreacting invalidates their feelings and often increases agitation.
Question 7: A crisis is BEST defined as:
- Any mental illness diagnosis
- A permanent inability to function
- A perception of an event or situation as an intolerable difficulty that exceeds a person's current coping resources (Correct answer)
- A situation that always requires hospitalization
Correct answer: A perception of an event or situation as an intolerable difficulty that exceeds a person's current coping resources
A crisis is defined by how a person perceives the event and their temporary inability to cope, not by the event alone.
AIRS Crisis Intervention Strategies 2
In Roberts' Seven-Stage Crisis Intervention Model, what is the FIRST stage?