
Tuesday, July 11th, 2023 2:00 PM America/New_York Amar Ghelani MSW RSW PhD Candidate
Webinar Description
This presentation provides a roadmap of essential knowledge and skills for mental health clinicians working on police-partnered and non-police mobile crisis intervention teams (MCIT). Public outrage over police-involved deaths of people in mental health crisis has prompted governments to expand access to crisis services that offer a recovery-oriented alternative to traditional police-led community interventions. MCIT’s offer assessment and support for people in distress while averting escalation. This presentation is informed by crisis theory and intended for social workers, nurses, psychologists, students, and others interested learning about and working within these expanding intervention models.
The presentation will start with an overview of the history of mobile crisis intervention programs in North America and describe variations in model structures across jurisdictions. A brief literature review of research evaluating the efficacy of these programs will be included. This will lead into a review of 11 practice skills for workers on these teams. These skills include the capacity to engage of complex clients, de-escalate tension, assess risk in the community, plan for safety, provide brief addiction counselling, diffuse interpersonal conflict, link clients with community resources, advocacy, challenge systemic racism, build constructive relationships, and document services with awareness of relevant legislation. The practice insights discussed in this presentation are relevant to preventing harm and loss of life while facilitating engagement between clients and mental health services.
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Qualifications:
Agenda:
Knowledge and skills for Mobile Crisis Intervention Workers
Trainer: Amar Ghelani MSW, RSW, PhD Candidate
Background – 40 minutes
What is a crisis and what are Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams (MCIT’s)?
Why are these teams needed?
Historical overview of police-co-response and non-police crisis intervention programs in North America
Variations in model structures across jurisdictions
A review of research evaluating the efficacy of MCIT’s
Breakout room discussion – What skills do you think are needed to effectively intervene in community mental health crisis situations? - 10 minutes
Knowledge and Skills for MCIT – 60 minutes
Engaging complex clients
De-escalating tense situations
Assess for risk to harm self or others,
Safety planning in the community
Brief addiction counselling,
Diffusing interpersonal conflict,
Linking to community resources
Building constructive relationships
Documenting services with awareness of relevant legislation
Breakout room discussion – What community services are needed to ensure these programs are effective? – 10 minutes
Broader Contextual issues – 30 minutes
A continuum of community crisis services
Challenging systemic racism
Need for advocacy to promote systemic change
Review and Summary - 10 minutes
Question and Answer period – 20 minutes
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will know the the history, structure, and efficacy of mobile crisis intervention programs
- Participants will be able to assess risk and engage clients presenting with risks to harm themselves or others in non-traditional, community settings.
- Participants will have an awareness of intervention methods including de-escalation, safety planning, conflict management, and addiction counselling in non-traditional, community settings.
This presentation is open to:
- Social Workers
- Professional Counselors
- Therapists
- Psychologists
- Licensed Mental Health Practitioners
- Other professionals interacting with populations engaged in mental health based services
This online class is offered at an intermediate level ,and is beneficial for an intermediate level clinician:
- New practitioners who wish to gain enhanced insight surrounding the topic
- Experienced practitioners who seek to increase and expand fundamental knowledge surrounding the subject matter
- Advanced practitioners seeking to review concepts and reinforce practice skills and/or access additional consultation
- Managers seeking to broaden micro and/or macro perspectives