ABSTRACT
It will be readily accepted by most people that personal crises are a fact of life; each person experiences crises and in general deals with them effectively, or at least sufficiently well to carry on with their lives. There are, however, times when a crisis seems so intense and overwhelming to the individual that the usual efforts to deal with it are thwarted and the person cannot carry on. In such cases the main focus of crisis intervention work is to facilitate the recovery process and so minimize the impact of personal tragedies. It is generally regarded as consisting of short term intervention with individuals and groups experiencing personal psychological reactions either to a major personal misfortune or to a disaster affecting great numbers of people – such as a fire or a flood. Although it is time limited it is designed to assist victims and survivors in returning to their pre-crisis level of functioning.
