"We Help Make Bad Things Right"
The best time to prepare for a crisis was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.
What We Do, Why Choose Us.
Cism Briefly Explained
Crisis intervention is a specialized acute emergency mental health intervention that requires specialized training. As physical first aid is to surgery, crisis intervention is to psychotherapy. Thus, crisis intervention is sometimes called “emotional first aid.” Designed to present the core elements of a comprehensive, systematic, and multi-component crisis intervention curriculum, we prepare participants to understand various crisis intervention services for individuals and groups.
Calm Response Solutions
We provide high-value professional critical incident stress management (CISM) training to industries potentially impacted by significant stressors. We frame courses using modern neuroscience emphasizing active listening, clarifying statements, and self-directed knowledge that assist in shaping positive narratives. Purposefully chosen speech triggers neurotransmitter and hormonal responses facilitating positive changes leading to cognitive and emotional recovery and health. We are proud to provide University-based certifications in the field of CISM and psychological crisis intervention. We are located In Toronto, Canada, and have affiliates across the U.S.A.
How Critical Incident Stress Management Works
Origins and history:
Thomas Salmon (1917), a British military physician during World War I, was asked to evaluate severe “shell shock” (traumatic neurosis), which was producing psychological paralysis in Allied soldiers. In this first medical description of the psychological effects of war, Salmon noted that French soldiers suffered fewer psychological casualties than British soldiers. Three factors seemed to account for the French advantage: (1) French soldiers were told that they could expect to recover from their psychological traumas; (2) soldiers received immediate psychological treatment, close to the battlefront; and (3) soldiers were returned to battle as quickly as possible. These principles became the cornerstone of modern crisis theory and disaster management strategies. Patients entering crisis treatment can expect to be treated immediately, in their natural environments, with an expectation that they will recover from the crisis or disaster. Efforts should be made to return patients to their normal life and community as soon as possible.
A lot has changed since 1917
Continual refinements culminated in 1996 when Dr. George Everly and Dr. Jeffrey Mitchell formalized the world-renowned Critical Incident Stress Management Interventions in partnership with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Department of Emergency and Disaster Health Systems.
Some Of The Professionals We Support
CISM Teams
Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) teams are important resources providing vital support and resources to help peers understand a critical incident and work toward rapid healing. As International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF) certified instructors, we use the world-renowned ICSF model to teach group and individual interventions.
We work and develop CISM teams to:
- Assist in team development through internal recruitment
- Strengthen teams by providing training in the ICSF model
- Enhance and deepen team member skills
- Consult on complex critical incidents
HOSPITALS
Both chronic and acute stress are occupational hazards for nurses, physicians, allied professionals, and hospital staff. While there are positive and rewarding elements to the work, there are also time pressures, high expectations, distressing cases, human suffering, and feelings of being overwhelmed. Addressing the impact of stress and critical incidents is important to help protect team members from compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, burnout, and moral injury.
EMS, Fire, Police
Emergency services are the lifeline of a community. While responding to crises and disasters can be rewarding, chronic and acute stress are common job hazards. Long hours, time pressures and high expectations from others and themselves can lead first responders to experience compassion fatigue, burnout, secondary traumatic stress and moral injury. Addressing the impact of these job hazards can help cushion stress, increase resiliency and lead people toward healing so that these critical helpers can take care of themselves in order to take care of others.
Legal Community
Courtroom Staff, Jurors, lawyers, and judges involved in horrific cases can be at risk. Post-traumatic stress is typically brought on by exposure to death, serious injury or sexual violence, but it can also stem from repeated or extreme exposure to details of a traumatic event. The seeds of vicarious trauma are sown as legal professionals start to relive the experience of helping clients and the evidence involved in a case or cases. In doing so, they may become overwhelmed, isolated, distant, anxious, and more. As a helping professional, you become a reservoir of other people’s trauma — first-person accounts, crime scenes, autopsies. Vicarious trauma can hit after one case or after years of handling or overseeing disturbing cases. Regardless of the timeframe, the process is the same for lawyers and judges. Recurring images and second thoughts. . . . The fact that human beings can do some terrible things hits very hard.
Some Other High Pressure Industries We serve
Airline Industry
Pilots, flight crews, air traffic controllers
Education
Administrators, teachers, counselors, social workers, support staff
Forestry and Mining
High-Risk Mining and Energy Sectors facing chronic stress
Public Health
Public health workers experience stress and burnout. Many reporting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and considering leaving their organizations, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic
Public Transit
Go Transit, and Public Transportation Workers exposed to a plethora of violence and suicides
Human Resources
Stress-related illnesses, such as high blood pressure, insomnia, and anxiety, are common among HR professionals
Search and Rescue
Exposure to potentially traumatic events increases the risk of mental health issues like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), burnout, and secondary traumatic stress.
Our CISM courses are taught by ICISF Approved Instructors
Assisting Individuals in Crisis
Course Description:
Crisis Intervention is NOT psychotherapy; rather, it is a specialized acute emergency mental health intervention which requires specialized training. As physical first aid is to surgery, crisis intervention is to psychotherapy. Thus, crisis intervention is sometimes called “emotional first aid”. This program is designed to teach participants the fundamentals of, and a specific protocol for, individual crisis intervention. This course is designed for anyone who desires to increase their knowledge of individual (one-on-one) crisis intervention techniques in the fields of Business & Industry, Crisis Intervention, Disaster Response, Education, Emergency Services, Employee Assistance, Healthcare, Homeland Security, Mental Health, Military, Spiritual Care, and Traumatic Stress.
Learning Objectives:
- Psychological crisis and psychological crisis intervention
- Resistance, resiliency, recovery continuum
- Critical incident stress management
- Evidence-based practice
- Basic crisis communication techniques
- Common psychological and behavioral crisis reactions
- Putative and empirically-derived mechanisms
- SAFER-Revised model
- Suicide intervention
- Risks of iatrogenic “harm”
General Contact Hours:
Two-Day Course; 13 Contact Hours:.
ICISF Certificate of Completion:
After the completion of this ICISF course, with verified full attendance, participants are eligible to receive an electronic ICISF Certificate of Completion including General Continuing Education Units. Participants are required to complete a course evaluation prior to receiving this Certificate of Completion.
ICISF Approved Instructors
Group Crisis Intervention
Course Description:
Designed to present the core elements of a comprehensive, systematic and multi-component crisis intervention curriculum, the Group Crisis Intervention course will prepare participants to understand a wide range of crisis intervention services. Fundamentals of Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) will be outlined and participants will leave with the knowledge and tools to provide several group crisis interventions, specifically demobilizations, defusings and the Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD). The need for appropriate follow-up services and referrals when necessary will also be discussed.
This course is designed for anyone in the fields of Business & Industry Crisis Intervention, Disaster Response, Education, Emergency Services, Employee Assistance, Healthcare, Homeland Security, Mental Health, Military, Spiritual Care, and Traumatic Stress.
Learning Objectives:
- Relevant research findings
- Relevant recommendations for practice
- Incident assessment
- Strategic intervention planning
- “Resistance, resilience, recovery” continuum
- Large group crisis interventions
- Small group crisis interventions
- Adverse outcome associated with crisis intervention
- Reducing risks
- Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD)
General Contact Hours:
Two-Day Course; 13 Contact Hours:.
ICISF Certificate of Completion:
After the completion of this ICISF course, with verified full attendance, participants are eligible to receive an electronic ICISF Certificate of Completion including General Continuing Education Units. Participants are required to complete a course evaluation prior to receiving this Certificate of Completion.
ICISF Approved Instructors
Advanced Assisting Individuals in Crisis
Course Description:
Most psychological crisis intervention is done one person to one person, rather than in groups. These interactions may be face-to-face (in person or electronically), telephonic, via email, or even via text messaging. The SAFER-R model of individual psychological crisis intervention was developed to serve as a simple protocol or procedural guide to aid in conducting such individual psychological crisis interventions.
This two day course builds upon, and is the logical continuation of, the basic ASSISTING INDIVIDUALS IN CRISIS course. Using the SAFER-R framework as a platform, participants are introduced to scenario based variations of the model. Topics such as advanced psychological triage, grief, suicide intervention, challenges in follow up and referral, and self-care are addressed. In addition, participants are asked to evaluate pre-recorded video examples of crisis intervention using the SAFER-R model.
*Prerequisite: Assisting Individuals in Crisis
Learning Objectives:
- Natures & definitions of a psychological crisis and psychological crisis intervention
- Nature and definition of critical incident stress management and its role as a continuum of care
- Empathic communication techniques
- Practice of psychological triage
- SAFER-Revised model of individual psychological crisis intervention in a suicide scenario
- SAFER-Revised model of individual psychological crisis intervention in a “follow-up” or referral scenario
- Risks of iatrogenic “harm” associated with psychological crisis intervention and will further discuss how to reduce those risks
- Principles of self-care
General Contact Hours:
Two Day Course; 13 Contact Hours:
ICISF Certificate of Completion:
After the completion of this ICISF course, with verified full attendance, participants are eligible to receive an electronic ICISF Certificate of Completion including General Continuing Education Units. Participants are required to complete a course evaluation prior to receiving this Certificate of Completion.
ICISF Approved Instructors
Crisis Informed Peer Paracounseling: Intervention Enhancement to the CISM Continuum
Course Description:
Today we see an unprecedented mix of unique stressors & disasters with limited psychological resources. The Critical Incident Stress Management continuum offers high risk populations seeking a strategic crisis response; one that holistically builds the resilience of those in need. Crisis Informed Peer Para-Counseling (CIPP) expands the support tools of peer counselors to collectively cope with trauma and disasters. CIPP will become the 1:1 follow up service to them CISD. The unprecedented mix of unique stressors & disasters with limited psychological resources means at risk populations are seeking a strategic crisis response; one that holistically builds the resilience of those in need and expands the support tools of peer counselors to collectively cope with trauma.
Prerequisites: Assisting Individuals in Crisis (2 day course) and Group Crisis Intervention (2 day course)
Learning Objectives:
- Define the CIPP model
- Define terms in the field of peer support & crisis intervention
- Enhance skills in SAMSHA peer para counseling eight dimensions guidelines. Review Empathy versus Sympathy as a core principal of connection-Theresa Wiseman/Four Principles of Empathy- Perspective Taking/ Stay out of judgement, recognize emotions, communication.
- Define Mental health, addiction & trauma related disorders
- Define Peers as prevention educators
- Define Psychological First Aid
- Identify National, state & community behavioral healthcare & human service resources
- Define CIPP episode of care
General Contact Hours:
Two-Day Course; 14 Contact Hours:
ICISF Certificate of Completion:
After the completion of this ICISF course, with verified full attendance, participants are eligible to receive an electronic ICISF Certificate of Completion including General Continuing Education Units. Participants are required to complete a course evaluation prior to receiving this Certificate of Completion.
LivingWorks ASIST: Suicide Prevention
Applied Suicide Prevention Skills Training (ASIST) 2 day workshop.
What is LivingWorks ASIST?
Trusted by professionals, approved by the World Health Organization and learnable by anyone, LivingWorks Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) is the only workshop of its kind.
Updated continually to reflect new knowledge, LivingWorks ASIST has been training people to provide suicide first aid interventions for 40 years.
- LivingWorks ASIST is a two-day in-person workshop featuring powerful audiovisuals, discussions, and simulations.
- At a LivingWorks ASIST workshop, you’ll learn how to recognize when someone may be thinking about suicide, and how to provide a skilled intervention and develop a safety plan with the person to connect them to further support.
- You will also consider how personal and community attitudes about suicide affect someone’s openness to seek help and your ability to provide it.
- This workshop will increase your willingness, confidence, and capacity to provide suicide first aid.
- Two knowledgeable, supportive trainers will guide you through the course, ensuring a comfortable and safe learning environment.
Why Should I Take LivingWorks ASIST?
LivingWorks ASIST is Proven Effective
LivingWorks ASIST has 40 years of research and evidence behind it. More than 50 peer-reviewed studies and government reports on LivingWorks ASIST have found:
- LivingWorks ASIST improves participant skills and readiness to reach in and start a conversation with a person that may have thoughts of suicide
- The course is safe for participants, with no adverse effects from training
- The training is shown to increase general counseling and listening skills
About the lead instructor
Jarrod Marshall
During my over 28 years in the fire services, I led my department's "Mental Wellness Team", conducting thousands of defusing and debriefings adhering to the ICISF's CISM Model. I was the liaison chosen to communicate and collaborate internally between city departments and outside agencies regarding mental health concerns and strategies. Simultaneously, as a suppression captain, I joined my crew in mitigating thousands of interesting emergency calls.
In addition to the ICISF, I serve "LivingWorks" and facilitate the world-renowned 2-day workshop "Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training" (ASIST). I volunteer and teach ASIST to the York District School board administrators and staff. I also volunteer on the York Regional CISM Team executive. Additionally, I am a certified Red Cross Instructor for Professional Responder courses.
In my spare time, I enjoy traveling, boxing, fitness, and reading.
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