Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI)

This is a therapeutic crisis care strategy that engages children or adolescents with chronic patterns of self-destructive behavior to transform this situation into learning opportunities. The program involves training adults (parents, teachers, etc.) to help children feel secure and self-confident, and therefore understand their self-destructive behavior patterns and create lasting changes.
The program is structured in six phases:
1) Drainage: refers to “draining” the child’s or adolescent’s intense emotions and getting them to acknowledge their feelings.
2) Point of view: uses affirmative and listening skills to discover the child’s or adolescent’s point of view.
3) Central question: identifies the child’s or adolescent’s vital interest and selects the appropriate recovery intervention.
4) Insight: uses one of the recovery interventions to help the child or adolescent recognize their pattern of self-destructive behavior.
5) New skills: teaches new skills that lead to more responsible behavior.
6) Transfer learning: prepares the child or adolescent to re-engage in the activity and integrate into the real environment.

Impact evaluations

Impact evaluation studies show that children and adolescents reported favorable factors associated with participation in the program, such as an increased perception of being valued and treated with respect; they learned to trust and turn to adult caregivers for support in times of crisis; they became more aware of their self-destructive behavior patterns; they acquired strengths-based social skills; and they learned to accept responsibility for inappropriate actions [1] [2] [3].

Bibliographic reference

[1] Long, N. J., Morse, W. C. & Newman, R. G. (1996). Conflict in the classroom: The education of at-risk and troubled students (5th ed.). Pro-Ed.

[2] Long, N. J., Wood, M. M. & Fecser, F. A. (2001). Life Space Crisis Intervention: Talking with students in conflict (2nd ed.). Pro-Ed.

[3] Long, J., Long, N. J., Whitson, S. & Long, N. (2009). The angry smile: The psychology of passive-aggressive behavior in families, schools, and workplaces (2nd ed.). Pro-Ed.

Information source

The California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse