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Dick James, Ph. D.
Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Research
Room 100, Ball Bldg
University of Memphis
Memphis, TN 38152
(901)678-4495
Transcrisis states are the disease reservoir of a crisis event that has become chronic and long term. While PTSD symptoms certainly tall into this category, Transcrisis states emerge in a variety of anxiety and personality disorders, substance abuse problems, and psychosis. Even "normal" individuals may regress to a transcrisis state when confronted with additional life stressors that overload their coping skills, and continuously resurface every time such overloads occur. As a result, transcripts states may appear to occur for no particular reason, and catch significant others in the client's life (including the therapist) completely unaware. Therefore, therapeutic focus should be not only on the current clinical diagnostic state of the individual, but also should assess the repetitious cycle of problems and the historical and environmental precursors that cause the transcrisis state to occur.
Transcrisis points occur within therapy, but not in regular or predictable ways.. A client may be making good progress, and then completely fall apart. Human service workers who practice long-term therapy are taken unawares when the client spontaneously combusts into crisis in front of them, and are shocked, puzzled and paralyzed as to what to do. Transcrisis points may also be seen as benchmarks that are critical to progressive stages of therapeutic grouch and can aid and abet such growth if handled in an appropriate mode. For both transcrisis states and transcrisis points, knowledge of crisis intervention strategies by the therapist is a must.
This presentation will use a case history to illustrate what the therapist/crisis interventionist must do when confronted with transcrisis states and points. The case history is of a police officer and former EMT who was referred for a major PTSD episode. This episode was stimulated and compounded by the attempted murder of female co-worker by the officer's paranoid wife who thought she was having an affair with him. Time will be reserved for discussion and processing of this case and of those cases that members of the audience may have that they feel fits these criteria.
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