ABSTRACT
Crisis intervention is an integral part of social work practice in direct work with individuals, families, and groups. The key factor in social work practice with families is the practitioner's direct intervention in an operating social system that has existed and continues to exist outside the treatment sessions. Through teaching the necessary knowledge and skills, practitioners enable families to participate in the patient's care or rehabilitation which contributes to the resolution of the crisis. The resolution of the crisis provides a natural time for termination: nevertheless, as Rapoport notes, "termination needs to be dealt with explicitly". Three tasks are necessary for crisis resolution: to acquire accurate cognitive perceptions of the crisis situation; to deal with strong emotional reactions to the situation; and to seek and use appropriate interpersonal and institutional resources. In crisis intervention, termination is a brief process, owing to the time-limited nature of crises and the service that was built into the working agreement.
