TCC Crisis Intervention & Mental Health 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: According to the ACT model of suicide risk assessment used in Texas schools, what does the 'A' represent?
- Assess (Correct answer)
- Acknowledge
- Act
- Alert
Correct answer: Assess
In the ACT model, 'A' stands for Acknowledge — recognizing and validating the student's feelings and opening communication before moving to care and treatment steps.
Question 2: Which of the following is classified as an 'acute' risk factor that increases immediate suicide risk compared to chronic risk factors?
- Family history of suicide
- Recent significant loss or humiliating event (Correct answer)
- Prior history of depression
- Male gender
Correct answer: Recent significant loss or humiliating event
Acute risk factors are recent, time-limited events that dramatically increase immediate risk, such as a breakup, job loss, public humiliation, or access to lethal means, as opposed to chronic or static factors.
Question 3: When using Roberts's Seven-Stage Crisis Intervention Model, which stage involves helping the client develop a concrete action plan with specific coping strategies?
- Stage 1: Assess lethality and safety
- Stage 4: Explore feelings and emotions
- Stage 6: Restore functioning through action plan (Correct answer)
- Stage 7: Follow-up
Correct answer: Stage 6: Restore functioning through action plan
Stage 6 of Roberts's model focuses on restoring pre-crisis functioning by collaboratively developing a concrete action plan that includes coping strategies, support resources, and specific steps the client will take.
Question 4: Under Texas law, a professional counselor may place a client in emergency involuntary hospitalization (emergency detention) if the client presents which condition?
- The client misses three or more scheduled appointments
- The client is imminently likely to seriously harm themselves or others due to a mental health disorder (Correct answer)
- The client refuses to sign a treatment consent form
- The client is experiencing medication side effects requiring medical monitoring
Correct answer: The client is imminently likely to seriously harm themselves or others due to a mental health disorder
Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 573 authorizes emergency detention when a person, as a result of mental illness, poses an imminent risk of serious harm to themselves or others.
Question 5: Which of the following best describes psychological first aid (PFA), the approach recommended after community disasters and mass casualty events?
- A structured 12-week trauma therapy protocol using EMDR
- An immediate, humane, supportive response that addresses basic needs and reduces acute distress (Correct answer)
- Formal psychiatric evaluation and medication management in the first 24 hours
- Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) conducted within 72 hours of the event
Correct answer: An immediate, humane, supportive response that addresses basic needs and reduces acute distress
Psychological First Aid is an evidence-informed early intervention designed to reduce initial distress, meet basic needs, and connect survivors to social support and services without requiring them to relive or narrate trauma.
Question 6: A Texas high school counselor learns that a student has made a specific suicide plan and has access to the means. According to ethical guidelines, the counselor's first priority is to:
- Maintain confidentiality and document the disclosure in the student's file
- Immediately assess safety and take steps to protect the student, including notifying parents and appropriate school personnel (Correct answer)
- Wait for written parental permission before taking any action
- Refer the student to an outside therapist without informing the school administration
Correct answer: Immediately assess safety and take steps to protect the student, including notifying parents and appropriate school personnel
When a student presents imminent suicide risk (specific plan + means), the counselor's ethical and legal obligation is to break confidentiality to protect the student's life, involving parents and appropriate personnel immediately.
TCC Crisis Intervention & Mental Health 1
According to the ACT model of suicide risk assessment used in Texas schools, what does the 'A' represent?