Personal Narrative: The Crisis Theory

The Crisis Theory helps us to understand different developmental, situational and existential crisis. Roberts (Roberts, 2005) defined crisis as “an acute disruption of psychological homeostasis in which one’s usual coping mechanisms fail and there exists evidence of distress and functional impairment.”“ In crisis a person can have an inability to cope with the stressor. Miller (Miller, 2011) mapped out three significant crisis that encompass the Crisis Theory. 1.) Developmental Crisis would be crisis that develops from a usual life event like graduating college. Normal events that can cause a person distress. In this particular crisis one has to take the time to process what is causing their stress, and work through that life change.
I have personal experience with loss as I lost my husband 9 years ago. We have 5 children and studying this particular theory has helped me to better understand the different stages of grief happening with my children and the significant difference in how they coped at varying ages. One of my children was 5 years old and we had to seek intervention as it was a very confusing time for him. This crisis affected him developmentally and still has some impact on his building relationships and maintaining concentration in certain situations. Here, 9 years later, he still experiences issues with stress surrounding this traumatic life event and both the internal and external adjustment. 9 years later he is still getting emotional treatment and services that help him cope in a social environment, such as school. Speaking from a personal perspective I cannot express how important the Crisis Theory is at understanding the underlying issues and finding intervention for individuals that need help dealing with loss. As a social worker I think it would be so important to adequately understand this theory and apply it as we see situations with individuals that are struggling and need our help with intervention. Understanding the theory, crisis formation as well as the Model for Crisis Theory can help us better provide an intervention plan
I was able to make several personal connections to a couple of theories that apply to the experiences of my family. As a result, I am able to better understand the plan of treatment or intervention that has been put in place for one of my children. What I have learned through the research of these theories has proven to be invaluable to me and better understanding these theories not only make me a better parent but would make me a better social worker. In depth knowledge of these theories will aid us in helping our clients and help us to understand what might be going on with them. This ultimately will give us a better roadmap to