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Crisis Personnel Interview
Kelly Seay
School of Behavioral Science, Liberty University
CRIS 303: Acute Stress, Grief, and Trauma
Professor Sutton
December 4, 2023
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Crisis Personnel Interview
Introduction
The person that I chose to interview was a woman that worked as a therapist in the
mental health field for about 20 years. Her name is Lisa Nunn. I met Lisa when she first started
after getting her degree years ago, at that time her name was a different name and life has taken
us to different places in the 20 years that we have known each other, both professionally, and
socially.
Job Title and Responsibilities
When I asked Lisa what her job title was, she told me that she was a Licensed Clinical
Social Worker that had been in her private practice since 2003. The kind of counseling that she
offers is couple psychotherapy to clients ranging in age from 25 to 90. She also works with
clients that is experiencing anxiety, depression, grief/loss, and life challenges. She is a
bereavement counselor and is trained in an anxiety program called Therapp. She has also worked
in a psychiatric hospital setting, both inpatient and outpatients, and have done admissions. She
explained that because she continues working with people that there are times that she does
hospital care too, because of her clients who sees themselves in crisis.
How did you become interested?
The next question I asked was how she became interested in working in the mental health
field. She responded by telling me that she had always been interested in being a therapist, but
when she first attended college, she did not see how she could ever reach her goal. So, instead
she got a bachelor’s degree, a BA in English with a minor in Biology. Then she went on to get
her Masters in English Literature. But after her children started school, she decided to go ahead
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and pursue her goal of becoming a psychotherapist and received her Master of Social Work in
2000, when she was 40.
Crisis Impact
When I asked Lisa about how crisis has impacted the community, she got sad and
mentioned that COVID-19 was the most recent crisis that had impacted the community. Because
of COVID-19 that the most significant negative impact on the community has been an increase
in anxiety symptoms and internal discord. For many, the inability to complete tasks that at one
time did not evoke stress has now become difficult or even impossible. For others, isolation
became the norm and with that came new experiences of loneliness, grief, and fear. The positive
impact on the community is that people in general have taken the opportunity to examine
priorities and expectations, such as work/life balance, gender roles, and the government’s role in
individual affairs.
Working with Other Crisis Responders
When asked how she works with other people, her peers during a critical incident, she
responded that throughout a crisis that she maintains a professional connection for peer support
from both her local organizations and national professional organizations. She said that because
we all find ourselves in a crisis at times that there are times that she sees someone, just for some
guidance, especially when she feels likes she just needs a mental recharge.
Tips for People
I asked Lisa if she had any suggestions or tips for people who wanted to pursue this
career or that wanted to volunteer in this field. Lisa said that she believes the most important
factor when working with people when they are the most vulnerable is for the professional or the
volunteer to have a strong understanding and practice of self-care. Having a strong support
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system, adequate and ongoing training, a healthy understanding of one’s one limitations and
vulnerabilities and access to resources to support them especially during and after the crisis.
Personal Reflection
One of the things that I took away from my interview with Lisa is how much she enjoys
her job. She truly enjoys working with people and helping them. One of the things that Lisa used
to tell me is that her job is to work herself out of a job. When she mentioned COVID-19, I could
tell that it was still having a negative impact on a lot of her clients, and a lot of people in general.
I like what she said at the end when she mentioned that one of the most important things for
people considering a job in that field is self-care, because I often forget about self-care,
especially when I am caring for my clients.
Some key learning points is self-care. To me that is a big one because I forget that it is
easy to get burned out when I always feel like I am on. Another learning point is to maintain
connection to other professionals. That it is okay to get guidance, or therapy to keep myself
balance and to have a mental health day. Just like Lisa had pointed out, one of the key
components during a crisis, is making sure that you are getting enough self-care. Before you can
help anyone, you must take care of yourself too. That was one of the things that I picked up from
her while we were doing the interview as one of the most important things that you can do.
Adequate self-care, during a crisis, or any time, would mean “healthy eating, good hygiene, and
mental awareness and well-being” (El-Osta, et al, 2023).
Biblical Integration
James reminds us to consider it good when we face trials and crisis in our lives. James
1:2 (New International Version, 2008/1973), “ Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,
whenever you face trials of many kinds.”
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References
El-Osta, A., Sasco, E. R., Barbanti, E., Webber, I., Alaa, A., Karki, M., Asmar, M. L. E., Idriss,
H., Almadi, M., Massoud, F., Alboksmaty, A., & Majeed, A. (2023). Tools for measuring
individual self-care capability: a scoping review. , (1), 1312. BMC Public Health 23
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16194-6
Holy Bible. (2011). . (Original 1973). New International Version
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=james%201:2-4&version=NIV
