10/8/23, 7:19 PM
CRIS 303 Case Study Assignment
about:blank
1/4
1
Case Study Assignment
Casey Owens
School of Behavioral Sciences: Liberty University
CRIS 303: Acute Stress, Grief, and Trauma
Professor Tiffany Furbush
June 19, 2023
10/8/23, 7:19 PM
CRIS 303 Case Study Assignment
about:blank
2/4
2
Case Study Assignment
Rachel has undergone a tremendous loss that has understandably affected her entire life,
as well as her entire family. There are very likely many emotions and pains going through her
brain as she struggles to handle this situation anxiety, helplessness, guilt, anger, and so many
others. The initial reaction to the crisis situation Rachel found herself in seems to be very well,
the situation was handled, care was given to those who needed it, people who needed
notifications were notified, everyone involved in the initial response should be commended for
their efforts.
Unfortunately, the rest of the situation was not handled as perfectly as the initial reaction
was. Rachel was going through a grieving process as she handled the loss of her job, basic
functioning, memory, and loss of control over her own life. It is very likely that Rachel would
have benefitted from some professional counseling, someone who understood that she needed to
actualize the loss she was going through and help her talk through what she had lost because of
this incident (Worden, 2018). Group counseling would have been especially beneficial to Rachel,
as Dass-Brailsford said, the environment of a counseling group helps to rebuild positive
relationships and help mend tears in one’s sense of control (2016). Despite Rachel having a
strong support system, she still felt overwhelmed and struggled with depression and anger. A
counselor and/or a support group could have helped her process and normalize these feelings of
helplessness and frustration because as Worden said, this anger “must go somewhere,” (2018).
Learning to cope with a newfound disability and building resiliency are two things that
Rachel seems to have struggled with, but if she is able to do achieve them her quality of life will
greatly increase as a result. Resilience and coping skills often go hand in hand, Ang et al have
described resilience as being learnable and as “an individual’s adaptive coping ability,” (2022). A
10/8/23, 7:19 PM
CRIS 303 Case Study Assignment
about:blank
3/4
3
good option that Rachel could have looked into in the aftermath of this crisis to help build her
resiliency is online resilience training, according to a meta-analysis by Ang et al online training
that allowed the trainees to go through the training at their own pace had better outcomes than
their in-person counterparts (2022). One specific strategy to help Rachel cope and build
resiliency could be to allow her to write a letter to the man who caused the car accident, saying
what she wanted to say to him, allowing her to fully vent out those feelings and then not actually
send the letter out, this models the farewell letter that survivors can write to someone they just
lost exampled by Worden (2018).
Finally, another way Rachel could cope with the situation and build resiliency is to lean
into God during this time, God’s grace is more than sufficient for her even in this moment
because His “power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinth. 12:9, English Standard Version
Bible, 2001). Rachel did well by meeting with her pastor weekly during this time, but a pastor
can only do so much, especially when information and feelings are being withheld the way she
was doing in this example. It would have been good for her if she had allowed herself to mourn
these feelings and this loss to it’s fullest around her pastor and her family, as Matthew 5:4 says
those who mourn will be comforted (English Standard Version Bible, 2001).
Overall, Rachel handled the crisis decently well, but there was much room for
improvement. She would have greatly benefitted from receiving some form of counseling
whether it was one-on-one or preferably in a group counseling setting. She also would have
benefitted from allowing herself to open up and express her feelings to those closest to her rather
than hiding these emotions and feelings away. Finally, she would have greatly benefitted from
trusting in God more, leaning into His strength rather than trusting in her own belief that she
could handle it.
10/8/23, 7:19 PM
CRIS 303 Case Study Assignment
about:blank
4/4
4
References
Ang, W. H. D., Chew, H. S. J., Dong, J., Yi, H., Mahendren, R., & Lau,
Y. (2022). Digital training for building resilience: Systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-
regression. Stress and Health, 38(5), 848– 869. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.3154
Dass-Brailsford, P. (2016). Crisis Counseling: Acute Stress, Grief, and Trauma. Sage
Publications.
English Standard Version Bible. (2001). ESV Online. https://esv.literalword.com/
Worden, J. W. (2018). . Springer Publishing Grief Counseling and Grief Therapy
Company LLC.
