CPSS Crisis Support 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A peer becomes aggressive during a group support session. What is the peer support specialist's BEST immediate response?
- Physically intervene to protect other group members
- Calmly ask the group to pause, address the escalating peer with a low voice and non-confrontational body language, and call for clinical backup if needed (Correct answer)
- Immediately call 911 without attempting any de-escalation
- Ask other group members to help confront the aggressive peer
Correct answer: Calmly ask the group to pause, address the escalating peer with a low voice and non-confrontational body language, and call for clinical backup if needed
De-escalation techniques using calm tone and non-confrontational posture are the appropriate first response before escalating to emergency services.
Question 2: Which of the following is a key principle of Psychological First Aid (PFA) that peer support specialists can apply in crisis settings?
- Conducting formal psychological assessments before providing any support
- Promoting a sense of safety, calm, self-efficacy, social connection, and hope (Correct answer)
- Encouraging survivors to relive the traumatic experience in detail immediately after
- Providing formal diagnoses and treatment plans as quickly as possible
Correct answer: Promoting a sense of safety, calm, self-efficacy, social connection, and hope
Psychological First Aid's five core principles — safety, calm, connectedness, self-efficacy, and hope — guide non-clinical crisis support aligned with peer support practice.
Question 3: A peer support specialist is working with someone experiencing a substance use crisis. Which approach is MOST consistent with recovery-oriented crisis support?
- Telling the peer they cannot receive support until they are sober
- Meeting the peer where they are, reducing immediate harm, and discussing what the peer wants from their recovery (Correct answer)
- Insisting the peer enter a 30-day inpatient program as the only acceptable option
- Withholding peer support until the peer signs a sobriety commitment contract
Correct answer: Meeting the peer where they are, reducing immediate harm, and discussing what the peer wants from their recovery
Recovery-oriented and harm reduction approaches meet people where they are, honor their autonomy, and support self-determined goals regardless of current substance use status.
Question 4: What is the purpose of a 'warm handoff' in crisis peer support practice?
- Handing over written documentation to the next shift without verbal communication
- Directly introducing the person in crisis to the next provider in a connected and personal way to reduce barriers to continued care (Correct answer)
- Calling a crisis line on behalf of the peer without their knowledge or consent
- Transferring the peer to emergency services and ending the peer specialist's involvement
Correct answer: Directly introducing the person in crisis to the next provider in a connected and personal way to reduce barriers to continued care
A warm handoff involves a personal, face-to-face or live introduction between the peer and the next provider, reducing the risk of the person disengaging from care.
Question 5: When a peer expresses hopelessness about recovery during a crisis, the peer support specialist can MOST effectively use their lived experience by:
- Sharing that recovery is impossible for everyone and validating the hopelessness
- Offering their own experience of crisis and recovery as evidence that hope and change are possible (Correct answer)
- Telling the peer to simply think positively and focus on the future
- Avoiding the topic of recovery entirely to prevent unrealistic expectations
Correct answer: Offering their own experience of crisis and recovery as evidence that hope and change are possible
The peer support specialist's lived experience of navigating crisis and recovery is a powerful, credible source of hope for someone who cannot yet see it for themselves.
Question 6: Which of the following scenarios would require a peer support specialist to break confidentiality in North Carolina?
- A peer shares they experimented with marijuana six months ago
- A peer describes a specific plan to harm a coworker tomorrow using a weapon at work (Correct answer)
- A peer expresses general sadness and mentions they sometimes wonder why they are alive
- A peer discloses a history of childhood trauma they have never shared before
Correct answer: A peer describes a specific plan to harm a coworker tomorrow using a weapon at work
A specific, credible, and imminent threat to an identifiable person requires the peer support specialist to breach confidentiality to prevent serious harm.
Question 7: What does 'crisis stabilization' mean in the context of peer support services?
- Permanently resolving all mental health symptoms through peer intervention
- Helping a person move from acute crisis to a state of safety and baseline functioning so they can engage with ongoing supports (Correct answer)
- Keeping a person in a crisis facility until full recovery is achieved
- Documenting the crisis event for insurance and billing purposes
Correct answer: Helping a person move from acute crisis to a state of safety and baseline functioning so they can engage with ongoing supports
Crisis stabilization is about restoring safety and basic functioning, not full recovery — creating a bridge to ongoing care rather than resolving all underlying issues.
CPSS Crisis Support 4
A peer becomes aggressive during a group support session.
What is the peer support specialist's BEST immediate response?