Crisis Support Flashcards

A peer support specialist is working with someone who has experienced multiple hospitalizations and expresses fear about being hospitalized again. How should the specialist respond?

Answer: Acknowledge the peer's fear, explore their past experiences, and collaboratively explore less restrictive alternatives while maintaining safety

Acknowledging past negative experiences with hospitalization and exploring alternatives respects the peer's autonomy while still prioritizing safety.

What is the significance of the '988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline' in North Carolina's crisis support system?

Answer: It is a 24/7 crisis line providing immediate support for people in suicidal or mental health crisis and can connect callers to local resources

988 is a 24/7 nationwide crisis lifeline that connects callers to local crisis counselors and can dispatch Mobile Crisis Management teams in North Carolina.

Which of the following BEST describes 'peer-driven crisis planning' as opposed to traditional crisis planning?

Answer: The peer leads the development of their own crisis plan with support from the peer specialist, based on their own values, strengths, and preferences

Peer-driven crisis planning centers the peer's own voice, strengths, and choices, making plans more personally meaningful and more likely to be used.

A peer support specialist notices a peer is showing warning signs of an impending crisis but the peer denies anything is wrong. The BEST approach is to:

Answer: Gently share the observed changes with compassion, ask open-ended questions, and revisit the safety plan together

Compassionately naming observed changes and using open-ended questions invites the peer to engage without feeling confronted or dismissed.

When using Motivational Interviewing (MI) techniques during a crisis, which approach is MOST aligned with MI principles?

Answer: Exploring the peer's own ambivalence and affirming their strengths to build intrinsic motivation for safety

MI works with ambivalence rather than against it, using affirmation and exploration of the peer's own motivations to support change.

Which factor is MOST associated with increased risk of suicide attempt following discharge from a psychiatric inpatient setting?

Answer: Lack of immediate follow-up care and social isolation in the days and weeks after discharge

The post-discharge period is a high-risk window, with lack of follow-up and social isolation being major risk factors — making peer support during this time critically important.

How does the peer support specialist's own recovery story function as a 'tool' specifically in crisis settings?

Answer: It provides authentic evidence that recovery from crisis is possible, reducing hopelessness and building alliance

The specialist's lived recovery narrative serves as powerful, credible hope — demonstrating that crisis can be survived and that recovery is real, not just theoretical.