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• ACT Government; PositionTitle=Manager; Section-Name=Media and Communications; Corporate=Community Services, 2020. Vicarious trauma: Self-care to manage the impact of other people’s trauma. Community Services. Available at: https://www.communityservices.act.gov.au/ocyfs/therapeutic-resources/vicarious-trauma-self-care-to-manage-the-impactof-other-peoples-trauma [Accessed October 9, 2021].
• Anon, 1970. Elder abuse. The Australian Human Rights Commission.

Dealing with crisis situations is challenging and can be highly stressful, so you will need effective strategies for taking care of yourself. In this chapter, we will explore various self-care strategies to assist you in dealing with the emotional and psychological stress that can arise from working in community services.

By the end of this topic, you will understand:

To address immediate concerns and issues in a crisis, you will need a range of skills in communicating effectively with your client to gather information, develop strategies and balance working collaboratively with providing direction so that you can deal with immediate dangers and issues effectively within legal and ethical requirements.

Let's explore:

To provide effective support and crisis intervention for your clients you will need a good understanding of the principles and practices of crisis intervention, including critical incident procedures and how to facilitate emergency interventions.

Maintaining the safety of everyone involved in a crisis situation is a primary concern, so you will also need to know how to identify safety issues and how to address them.

By the end of this topic, you will understand: