5 credits
Human services professional practitioners work in many different settings, such as schools, juvenile correctional facilities, and child welfare agencies, where they encounter children and adolescents in crisis. Therefore, practitioners must be prepared to apply appropriate interventions to help them feel safe and stable in the moment and cope with the crisis over time. In this course, students examine the signs and symptoms of mental health crises in children and adolescents compared to those in adults. They also apply psychological first aid and other non-clinical interventions to authentic case studies and role-play exercises that occur in the context of adjudication, family issues, human trafficking, and bullying. As they do so, students consider the unique ethical and legal issues related to working with children and adolescents in crisis as well as the parental issues that may arise.