CPE CPE Crisis Intervention and Support 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary goal of a peer educator during a mental health crisis intervention?
- Connect the person to professional help immediately (Correct answer)
- Diagnose the person's condition
- Provide long-term counseling
- Prescribe coping medications
Correct answer: Connect the person to professional help immediately
Peer educators are trained to stabilize the situation and bridge the individual to qualified professional resources, not to serve as therapists.
Question 2: Which acronym is commonly used in peer education programs to assess suicide risk during a crisis?
- RACES
- IS PATH WARM (Correct answer)
- SMART
- FERPA
Correct answer: IS PATH WARM
IS PATH WARM (Ideation, Substance abuse, Purposelessness, Anxiety, Trapped, Hopelessness, Withdrawal, Anger, Recklessness, Mood changes) is a widely used warning sign framework.
Question 3: When a peer discloses information suggesting they may harm themselves, the peer educator should first:
- Keep the disclosure completely confidential
- Immediately notify campus or community emergency services if imminent danger exists (Correct answer)
- Ask the peer to write a safety contract alone
- Share the information with other peers for support
Correct answer: Immediately notify campus or community emergency services if imminent danger exists
Imminent danger overrides confidentiality, and peer educators must escalate to emergency services or trained counselors right away.
Question 4: Active listening during a crisis primarily involves:
- Offering immediate solutions to the person's problems
- Reflecting feelings and asking open-ended questions (Correct answer)
- Giving advice based on personal experience
- Redirecting conversation to positive topics quickly
Correct answer: Reflecting feelings and asking open-ended questions
Active listening means demonstrating empathy by reflecting what the person feels and encouraging them to share more through open-ended questions.
Question 5: A 'warm handoff' in crisis peer education refers to:
- Sending a follow-up email to a peer after a session
- Personally introducing a peer in distress to a professional counselor (Correct answer)
- Providing a written list of hotline numbers
- Conducting a group debrief after a campus crisis
Correct answer: Personally introducing a peer in distress to a professional counselor
A warm handoff means the peer educator physically accompanies or directly connects the person in distress to a professional, ensuring continuity of care.
Question 6: Which behavior best demonstrates a peer educator respecting personal boundaries during a crisis interaction?
- Insisting on staying with the peer until they feel better
- Following up repeatedly until the peer responds
- Asking permission before sitting close or offering a physical gesture of comfort (Correct answer)
- Sharing the peer's situation with friends to build a support network
Correct answer: Asking permission before sitting close or offering a physical gesture of comfort
Respecting boundaries means checking in before physical gestures or proximity changes, keeping the person's autonomy and comfort central.
CPE CPE Crisis Intervention and Support 1
What is the primary goal of a peer educator during a mental health crisis intervention?