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Psychological intervention in emergency situations

Psychological intervention in emergency situations

February 28, 2024

Given the good acceptance of our previous article Learn Psychological First Aid with this practical guide, we contribute in this new tools that will allow us to know something more about the psychological intervention actions that are usually carried out in emergency situations .

Keep in mind that although these are situations of crisis very associated with stress, the characteristics of the situation make this kind of work are performed in a different way to what happens in normal psychotherapy in consultation.

  • Related article: "10 essential tips to reduce stress"

The psychological intervention in emergencies

Before talking about the basic principles of psychological intervention in emergencies , it is necessary to establish the most likely contexts where to start up these intervention guidelines. They are usually the following:


  • Natural disasters such as earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, floods, etc.
  • Technological disasters, like those of chemical, nuclear causes, etc.
  • Terrorist action
  • Traffic accidents with several victims.
  • Disability or psychic crisis.
  • Wars.

The principles of psychological care in disasters and emergencies

The basic principles of intervention in these contexts are:

1. Protect

It is about making the affected people feel safe and protected. To do this, you must enable the areas of:

  • Shelters, housing or shelters for victims and relatives , meeting centers, etc. Also areas for participants to rest, exchange opinions and coordinate.
  • In the same way it becomes necessary establish points for the media especially in emergencies of a certain magnitude.

2. Direct

Direct through the necessary instructions of tasks that the affected person must do . We remember that in the impact phase the victim may suffer alteration in the ability to process information so our help in this regard becomes fundamental.


3. Connect with the victim

For which it is necessary to make use of resources that facilitate resume contact with family and acquaintances , places that provide information including administrative, etc.

4. Intervene

As we already mentioned in the previous article, we must:

  • Guarantee basic needs to victims , such as: water, food, blankets, etc.
  • Facilitate personal space.
  • Facilitate personal contact through conversation, active listening, empathy, etc.
  • Help meet with family and friends .
  • Facilitate mourning if there have been personal losses facilitating the expression of emotion.
  • Help control stress reactions

Strategies used in caring for victims

In general, the intervention includes different useful strategies in these contexts , such as:


  • Social and family support.
  • Relaxation techniques, being deep and diaphragmatic breathing the most used in these cases.
  • Strategies for changing thoughts, focusing on blame.
  • Behavior change strategies , such as distraction.
  • Possibility of referring a specialist for a more specific intervention.

The management of mourning

One of the most frequent and painful interventions for victims is Coping with the loss of a loved one (or several) when the emergency situation produces it.

In this sense and once the impact phase is finished, the intervention in mourning is recurrent when there have been deaths . This intervention is carried out both in affected people and relatives.

We can say that grief is a normal emotional reaction to the loss of a loved one. It is a process that must be elaborated correctly to avoid future problems. In that sense, William Wordem (1997) describes perfectly in his book The Treatment of Grief: psychological counseling and therapy, the tasks that the person must perform to overcome and correctly elaborate the duel . These tasks are four and must follow the following order although sometimes the tasks I and II are given together:

  • Task I. Accept the reality of the loss , that is, the person assumes with pain and even with a certain sense of "unreality" that the death has occurred, there is no going back
  • Task II. Express the emotion and pain of the loss .
  • Task III. Adapt to a medium in which the person who has died is absent.
  • Task IV. Continue living.

The complicated duel

All these tasks are usually carried out during the following months after the death , in a gradual and progressive way. Even those that reach two years are understood to be normal periods.

On the other hand, not overcoming all these tasks, can lead to a complicated or unsolved duel. In these cases, the person remains "anchored" in any of these phases for a long period of time (years even). The following are expected manifestations:

  • Sadness.
  • Anger.
  • Fatigue.
  • Impotence.
  • Shock
  • I long.
  • Relief.
  • Guilt and reproach.
  • Anxiety.
  • **Loneliness. **
  • Insensitivity.
  • Physical sensations, such as: emptiness in the stomach, tightness in the chest, tightness in the throat, etc. *

The difference between a normal and pathological reaction of grief will be marked by the time factor. Thus, not being able to think about the deceased a few days, weeks or a few months after the death, it will be normal. It will not be felt this happens ten years after the death.

To know more about the subject, you can consult the distance course on psychological first aid that Psychological Training organizes from its website.

Bibliographic references:

  • Wordem, W. "The treatment of grief: psychological counseling and therapy". 1997. Editorial paidós.

What is PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERVENTION? What does PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERVENTION mean? (February 2024).


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