A crisis response plan is documentation that can be used preventatively or as a supportive intervention if your client is at risk of a crisis. The goal of the CRP is to increase awareness of protective factors and decrease the possibility of a safety concern.
You should work collaboratively with the client to develop the CRP, share a copy with the client via Messages, and upload it to the client's clinical record, which can be found under Session Activity on the client's Tava profile.
We recommend the following CRP template:
1. Personal warning signs: Ask the client to list any personal indicators of an emerging emotional crisis.
- Thoughts
- Images
- Emotions
- Behaviors
- Physical sensations
- Symptoms/signs
2. Self-management strategies: Ask the client to think of and list any activities or strategies that they have found helpful for reducing their stress or distracting them when upset, even if for only a short period of time.
- Activities (journaling, listening to music, cooking, taking a walk, drawing, watching a show or movie)
- Coping skills (square breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique)
3. Reasons for living: Ask the client what prevents them from making a suicide attempt, their reasons for living, what gives them a sense of purpose and meaning in their life.
4. Social support: Ask the client to list one or two specific names of people and their phone numbers, who provide support or help them feel better when emotional or upset.
- Friends
- Family members
- Co-workers
- Partner(s)
5. Professional crisis support: Ask the client to list health care providers and emergency crisis services with their phone numbers. If you need support with identifying professional crisis supports, please reference this list, https://www.tavahealth.com/get-help, which can also be shared with clients.
- Health care providers (Primary care physician, psychiatrist, etc.)
- Crisis hotlines (local and/or national)
- Emergency services (local and/or national)
A more client friendly version of this template is:
- My Warning Signs
- My Coping Strategies
- My Distractions
- My Supports
- My Professional Supports
- My Safer Environment