Family Crisis

What is a Family Crisis?
Family crisis are life events, present and past, that have produced change in the functional state of family members.
In this post I will focus mainly on how to defuse a family crisis within our homes.
-Active listening
Active listening is perhaps the most important technique for defusing a crisis. For many families in crisis, active listening may be all that is needed to restore family functioning. Active listening with families may involve:
-- Encouraging the expression of feelings;
-- Reflecting feelings expressed by the family;
-- Normalizing the family's reactions;
-- Conveying acceptance of the family, but not of destructive behaviors;
-- Focusing on the "here and now";
-Modeling a sense of humor and fun
Some families need to be able to relax and take themselves and their situations less seriously. Showing a sense of humor about one's own mistakes lets families know that no one is perfect and that laughter is sometimes the best medicine. Many families in crisis can benefit by setting aside time for fun or social activities.

These two to me are very important to solving and bring the family back. We never want these situations to last long, we want them to be as short as possible so that they don't take a huge toll on the family.