When people experience highly stressful and traumatic events, many enter a state of crisis because they struggle to process what happened on their own. For survivors of human trafficking and gender-based violence, recovery involves facing a multitude of challenges, including thoughts of suicide, violence from their families and communities, homelessness, and acute mental health crises. Through our crisis intervention program, survivors receive immediate support to help them stabilize and address urgent safety risks.
Crisis intervention involves the provision of short-term therapeutic services for a person experiencing acute safety risks and/or intense, unexpected mental health symptoms that require a rapid response. Through crisis intervention services, immediate safety concerns are addressed, and a plan is developed to ensure the provision of necessary mental health services and other treatments until the crisis subsides. At Eleison, our crisis intervention services are tailored to address each survivor’s needs, prioritizing their immediate safety and well-being. We utilize an on-call system, with our staff available to respond to crises seven days a week, 365 days a year
In our crisis intervention sessions, we actively assess the risk level of survivors exhibiting common warning signs or disclosing safety concerns using standardized and validated assessment tools. We utilize risk assessment tools to inform how we then implement evidence-based interventions to reduce survivors’ acute risk. During these sessions, survivors receive support to strengthen their internal and social networks and create safety plans that fit their specific needs. Our staff works closely with survivors to help them recognize warning signs and develop personalized safety plans. By addressing these immediate needs, we ensure that survivors have access to essential resources and assist them in connecting with relevant support networks, such as healthcare providers, legal services, and social welfare agencies. After the immediate intervention, we continue to support survivors by monitoring for future signs of distress, helping with referrals, and being available to conduct individualized psychosocial support sessions until the situation stabilizes.
From 2022 to 2023, we conducted 158 crisis intervention sessions and made 140 referrals to other services for survivors who experienced suicidal thoughts, behaviors, and attempts, as well as interpersonal violence. Among our clients who completed our crisis intervention program and were experiencing suicidal ideation and behavior, 96.5% showed a reduced risk of suicide over time. One of our clients shared their experience with our crisis intervention services:
“My family life is quite chaotic. What I like most is even in the late hours of the night, she [Eleison staff] is always available to chat or call me and ask how I am doing. This makes me feel like I have someone to turn to and share my problems with. As the family’s breadwinner, it can be challenging to handle fights and disagreements in my family, and I would think about killing myself. But through our sessions, I have been able to better cope and not act on these thoughts.”
We need your help in continuing to provide our round-the-clock crisis intervention services. If you would like to support our crisis intervention program, we invite you to contact us at info@eleisonfoundation.org or donate here.
