Citation

Jones K, Allen M, Norris FH, Miller C. Adm. Policy Ment. Health 2009; 36(3): 195-205.

Affiliation

Mississippi Department of Mental Health, Jackson, MS, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10488-009-0214-2

PMID

19365724

Abstract

During January-April 2007, Project Recovery, a federally funded crisis counseling program implemented by Mississippi's Department of Mental Health, piloted a new model of Specialized Crisis Counseling Services (SCCS) on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In this team-based approach, a masters-level counselor trained in a variety of intervention techniques and a resource coordinator worked together with persons whose needs were relatively intense. Compared to regular program (RCCS) participants over the same interval (n = 29,522), SCCS participants (n = 281) were more likely to be female, middle-aged, and at greater risk for severe distress. In a participant survey conducted in both programs over the same week, SCCS participants reported significantly greater benefit than did RCCS participants. A subset of 129 SCCS participants provided pre- and post-participation assessments and showed large improvements in disaster-related distress.

Language: en