PSY500 Crisis Intervention (Spring 2024)

PSY418 Introduction to Mental Health Work

PSY419 Organization and Interaction of Mental Health Services

On successful completion of the course, students will have:

• sound knowledge of what creates crises and how crises can be coped with;
• skills in linguistic informative and formative functions in open dialogues with people in crises, and the ability to create dialogues between all the persons/parties involved, securing that all voices will be heard;
• knowledge of what people themselves describe as important factors to recover after mental crises;
• knowledge, skills and attitudes related to what consequences community mental health work has for all involved parties and their surroundings, including crisis handling locally in and with networks and local communities;
• skills and experience related to community mental health work based on people´s own experience and thoughts about what may help them carry on in their lives;
• skills and experience related to critical and ethical reflection on their own and others´ practice;
• insight into research, evaluation and quality assurance of mental health work related to crisis intervention.

In this course the student is challenged in concrete practical situations, and the knowledge is developed in action. The student gets experiences from how mental health work is exercised towards people in mental crises.

Central topics:

• people in movement and development - about crises, crisis understanding and coping with crises
• experiences and research from studies on recovery processes
• community mental health work in a user perspective - in different contexts
• conditions for creating supportive relationships with people in mental crises
• open dialogues with people in crisis - to endure uncertainty and being in motion
• dialogue as goal and work method in interventions with families and networks - network dialogues in practice
• ethical action in clinical practice - about considerations of principles of autonomy, charity, righteousness and non-injury
• independent, mature people and people seeking help and care - about complexity and ambiguous claims in practice

Lectures / Conferences

Seminars
Seminars are compulsory and 80 % certified attendance is required.

Practical studies (150 hours)
Work placements and organisation of the practical studies will be prepared and approved by the university. 90 % certified attendance is required. See the course brochure for details.

Supervision

Tutorials will stimulate to the development of practical knowledge in crisis intervention. The students´ clinical studies are in focus, stimulating professional and personal growth and development. Supervision is compulsory. 90 % certified attendance is required.

Self-study

Estimated student workload in this course is approx. 405 hours.

A graded 6-hour written individual examination.