Developing Competent Crisis Intervention Trainers

As the demand for thoroughly trained workers in crisis intervention has grown for those working with emotionally and behaviorally disturbed youth, the need for effective trainers of crisis intervention has also increased. An effective training for trainers program includes teaching and evaluating knowledge/skills in a core curriculum in conjunction with developing training skills. This study provided empirical and anecdotal evidence about a particular crisis intervention train-the-trainer program, Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI), that enabled TCI to make a major shift of emphasis in the training from core curriculum knowledge and skills to training skills development. The study may provide a valuable model for others to use when assessing their training programs whether crisis intervention related or any other training for trainers program.