Module 5
Crisis Intervention
In Module 4 you learned about different preventative and de-escalation strategies to manage challenging behaviour in the classroom. You also learned that when de-escalation fails you may have to intervene in a crisis situation. In Module 5 we focus on crisis intervention. When someone is in crisis they are going through a psychobiological state that is orchestrated by the neurobiology of the arousal system. You learned that the arousal effect from SNS to PNS is rapid and can be over quickly. You also learned that for a student exposed to prolonged stress or trauma, that arousal time sequence may take longer; however, with the right support and management, a crisis will shift from the drama of eruption to the calm restoration of equilibrium. The brain is set up for this with the right support from responsible others.
Image via Toby Elliott, Unsplash
Image via Jeferson Argueta, Unsplash
What is a Crisis in the Classroom?
So, what is a crisis in the classroom?
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There may have been signs but not always obvious,
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Or, you have been too busy to notice.
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Until you see or hear the first explosive outburst
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And then the eruption comes into its full force in the classroom
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You and your classroom are in crisis.
To manage a crisis effectively remember this: There is an order to the sequential steps to follow that will get all of you safely through the crisis including the disrupted or traumatized student. Remember the neurobiological sequence of a crisis.
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What is a crisis?
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generally an unexpected event
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creates anxiety and uncertainty
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constitutes a threat to yourself or others
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needs to be managed
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usually brief, intense and short-lived
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can be dangerous
Most of us have experienced a crisis in our lifetimes. A typical example of a crisis that causes immobilisation is when an animal is surrounded by predators or a human is trapped in the inevitability they are about to die or cannot escape from a terrifying situation.
What is Happening in the Brain in a Crisis?
Levine, P. (2010). In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness. North Atlantic Books
When talking about the Vagal Nerve pathways we are identifying the role they have in helping to restore balance but also a seemingly contradictory role in the fear/immobility cycle that represents trauma.
The dark arrows on the diagram represent the connections between the different nervous systems and the light arrows represent the links between the arousal systems and the adaptive response for example, a threat confronts you, you want to run so even though the somatic nervous system is about voluntary muscle control, your capacity to run when scared is managed by the SNS.
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The vagus nerve component is part of the parasympathetic nervous system and acts to help calm the body and restore balance after threat. You will notice that there is one apparent negative adaptive response that is mediated by the dorsal vagal pathway. You can look at this response in a different way. That is, the DVP although a primitive response, nevertheless, helps the body shutdown when the threat is so big it is inevitable the individual is going to die. It provides a calmness in the inevitability of death.
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Warning: you would not over emphasize the calmness aspect of 'immobilisation' bearing in mind for the student that is suicidal. The ideal is that signs of suicidality can invoke a supportive response from very significant people and in line with policy guidelines.
Remember the classic case of feedback from a man in the Port Arthur massacre, telling how he became very calm because he believed he was going to die. This is the adaptive response of immobilisation and shutdown that is mediated in the PNS helped by the unmyelinated primitive vagus system. It is also part of what is known as the fear/immobility cycle of trauma and therefore can be dangerous for the individual (Levine, 2010). Children exposed to domestic violence or who have witnessed the death of a parent through homicide from the other parent, can react by shutting down.
This is not to underestimate the impact of this cycle. It is as dangerous a crisis as that where someone fights or takes flight to survive. A crisis can trigger an escape (flight) adaptive response or an immobility/shutdown adaptive response depending on the type and severity of a crisis.
Remember the difference between unmyelinated and myelinated neurons? Unmyelinated lacks protective coating, myelinated has protective coating. Think of this when you are wanting to remember that it is an unmyelinated vagal pathway that is part of the fear/immobility cycle (trauma) whereas it is the myelinated vagal pathway that helps restore calm (normal restoration of calm). The regions of the brain functioning at various states of excitability or calmness are made clearer in the next section. You have seen the next section before so it’s good to remember these regions and adaptive responses and know that the adaptive responses are intricately orchestrated in the respective nervous systems and calmness is mediated by the vagal nerve pathways.
Adaptive Response
Perry, B. D. (2020). The Neurosequential Model: A Developmentally Sensitive, Neuroscience Informed Approach to Clinical Problem-Solving. In J. Mitchell, editor.; Tucci, Joe, editor.; Tronick, Edward, editor. (Ed.), The Handbook of Therapeutic Care for Children : Evidence-Informed Approaches to Working with Traumatized Children and Adolescents in Foster, Kinship and Adoptive Care (1st Ed). (pp. 114-131). Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
You have seen this diagram repeatedly now throughout the modules and so you will be familiar with the brain regions, the neural activity, the type of triggers, the manifestation of behaviour and the de-escalation techniques.
So these are the significant facts to remember about all crises:
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Initial Sympathetic reactions pass quickly and handled well individuals can get back to normal quickly however, this is a much longer and harder thing to achieve with those who have suffered ACE’s trauma or prolonged stress.
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This section shows varying degrees of intensity and sensitivity in the brain’s response to stress.
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Moving from left to right demonstrates what Perry 2020 identifies as “the state dependence” of the brain. This means that individuals exposed to prolonged stressors are functioning at the lower parts of the brain, not at cortex level.
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The foundation of emotional processing is the appraisal-arousal system, which can respond with varying degrees of intensity and sensitivity.
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This shows the adaptive response of the brain in situations from poor self-regulation through to good self-regulation- red to pale blue (executive behaviour regulation)
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Row one represents the type of response
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Row two represents the parts of the brain in which you will find these responses
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The bottom row represents the emotional reaction to the trigger (whatever this may be)
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Escalation from trigger = the type of reactiveness to expect
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De-escalation conditions required, to correct the trigger response/reaction.
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You are not a Clinician so you are not expected to apply a therapeutic role although you do need to establish relationships of trust with your students. This will make a difference to being able to manage crisis intervention as a teacher.
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Each of us has a “threshold of response” , which means those with hair trigger response mechanisms will find life is filled with challenging situations. Messaging from the brain provide prompts according to the sensitivity of the individual and the situation and modification from experience. Also modified by genetic factors.
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Emotional regulation is also determined by which parts of the brain are activated.
Types of Crises
There are different types of crisis. See the following list for examples
Suicidality
Aggressive and Destructive Behaviour
Homicidal
Impulsivity
Self Harm
When we speak of different types of crises the crises listed here are
generally the types of crisis that induce or are representative of reinforcement of trauma in those exposed to the crisis in someone else,
or in the person experiencing the crisis. If you look at the list the higher likelihood of the type of crisis you may encounter in the classroom are those of aggressive and destructive behaviour, impulsivity, self harm, an unexpected death that impacts on students and staff (a crisis that can result in another crisis), and suicidality. While schools in the USA have experienced homicidal crises it is hoped that this is not a crisis you will ever have to encounter as a teacher in an Australian school. You will need training to effectively manage this kind of crisis should it occur. As you can see from this list there are differences in types of crisis for example, you may think suicidality and self-harm are in the same category of crisis. They are not and need to be understood in order to manage them effectively in the classroom.
A Medical Crisis
Crisis that leads to another crisis
e.g. the sudden death of a loved one can result in a crisis of suicidality in a relative
An Existential Threat/Crisis
e.g. war where the very existence of an entire nation of people is threatened with being destroyed, or an inner state of an individual where they feel a sense of meaningless and isolation. The latter state could lead to suicide.
Crisis Intervention
Sequential steps to managing a crisis:
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Know the signs of the student calming down.
Make the classroom environment safe for everyone.
Reassure the disrupted student in a quiet calm voice. Respect their dignity
Video: Practical tips for managing crisis intervention
My-Progression, 'Managing Harmful Behaviour in School: Tips for Teachers - Crisis Intervention Series #3'. YouTube, 2023. https://youtu.be/eemJChfR5cY?si=smd23JRwQF0WgjSK
The following are rules to follow every time:
Apply emergency strategies as per your school policy guidelines to
make sure everyone in the classroom is safe. This should mean that your class have had a discussion with you to establish the classroom rules of safety. Discussion of these issues can be achieved in COGENS. In the event of a crisis you will have established some rules that require few words and that are only applied in crisis.
For example:
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Your students know that when a crisis occurs in the classroom that is unsafe for them to stay, the teacher will instruct the students to leave the room. Students should do so immediately and quietly.
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As part of a discussion previously, and as part of school policy, you have delegated a student to be responsible and go for help once outside. If that student is the one in crisis then another must take responsibility.
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Help may be in the form of the disrupted student's mentor or their therapist who is on call. It will probably mean the Head or Acting head of School or team mental health, needs to know and other staff may need to assist you.
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Whoever is the appropriate person/s this should be in line with the emergency/safety school policy.
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Do not touch the student who is in crisis.
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Don’t expect them to talk.
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If there is another student involved who may be harmed, you will need to get that student to safety as well as the other students.
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Do not attempt to get the student in crisis to focus on breathing or other bodily sensations.
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Always be honest with the student in crisis for example,
“I can see you are distressed”.
“I am sending someone to get help.
“Is there someone we can call who you would like to help?”
“I am here to listen”
Stay calm and do not move around. If you feel unsafe, remove yourself from danger.
This video clip is a very practical and commonsense approach to crisis intervention when behaviours are out of control, and you need to manage a very difficult classroom situation. It is one of a series of 6 video clips as part of “My-Progression” crisis management in the classroom and produced by Teachers Active in the U.K. All these clips are worth watching. They are short and to the point.
The final message for crisis intervention is this:
INSIST ON RECEIVING TRAINING TO MANAGE A CRISIS IN THE CLASSROOM.
If I the crisis involves another student:
“I can see you are distressed”
“I am sending someone to get help.
“You need to let Brian leave now”
“I’m here to listen and support you but you need to let Brian leave first”
Stay calm and do not move around. Remember the signs of someone beginning to calm down.
A reminder: There is an order to the sequential steps to follow that will get all of you safely through the crisis including the disrupted or traumatized student.
Note: The general reasons for and presentation of, suicidality and self harm behaviours are very different. The differences on how to manage these presentations in the classroom requires training from a clinician or educational psychologist. and a firm plan in place to deal with crises. If a student presenting with suicidality or self harm is in a state of crisis treat in the same way and absolutely stay with them until help arrives.
Module 5 Conclusion
Things to remember:
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Challenging behaviours can escalate beyond what you have been able to control.
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Signs may be shouting, spitting, kicking, clenched fists.
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Think before you act, stay calm and speak quietly in brief limited sentences.
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Don’t expect the challenging student to talk to you.
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Don’t touch the challenging student.
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Remember to act according to your school safety policy and your classroom plan.
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Keep everyone safe including yourself- this may mean removal from the classroom.
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Send for help
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If another student is being threatened by the challenging student, you have a duty of care to protect the student being threatened.
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Remember the words in the video clip – Act in a manner that is reasonable, necessary and proportionate.
REFERENCES
Levine, P. (2010). In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness. North Atlantic Books
My-Progression. (2025). Managing Harmful Behaviour in School: Tips for Teachers - Crisis Intervention Series #3. Teacher Active.