Chaplain Services Network

Course Description:

This one-day course is based on the "Psychological Body Armor" (PBA) course from the International Critical incident Stress Foundation which is used to train emergency and medical personnel in developing stress resilience for their work. It has been our experience at Chaplain Services Network that pastors and other ministers face a unique set of stressors and can also benefit from Stress Resilience. Our class will be customized to fit Christian Pastors, Ministers, and Lay Faith Leaders. It will explore how Christian Theology and Scripture can support Stress Resilience (note that we will deal with general Christian theology, not specific doctrines).

PBA is designed to aid you in building a personal culture of resilience and holistic health as a faith leader. Our unique approach is intended to help you learn to better manage the stress in your life in order to increase your potential for happiness, and success through the creation of what we call Psychological Body Armor™. There is no “quick fix” in this program. It is not designed to be a “pop psych” feel-good course. Rather, this course contains facts and specific suggestions for actions you can take to enhance your personal resilience, all based upon the latest and most credible science.

Learning Objectives:

Describe the nature of Psychological Body Armor™ (PBA)
Recognize resilient attitudes
Understand how Christian spirituality, theology, and scripture relates to PBA
Use physical exercise to strengthen PBA
Use nutrition to fuel PBA
Use rest to recharge and restore PBA
Use interpersonal support
Develop a PBA plan

Certificates and Continuing Education:

General Contact Hours:

One-Day Course; 7 Contact Hours: 0.7 General CEUs from University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) Dept. of Emergency Health Services Professional and Continuing Education (PACE). Based on a formula of 1 Continuing Education Unit for every 10 contact/classroom hours.

ICISF Certificate of Completion:

After the completion of this ICISF course, with verified full attendance, participants are eligible to receive an electronic ICISF Certificate of Completion including General Continuing Education Units. Participants are required to complete a course evaluation prior to receiving this Certificate of Completion.

Course Description:
This 3-day course combines ALL of the content of ICISF’s Assisting Individuals in Crisis & Group Crisis Intervention courses.

Crisis Intervention is NOT psychotherapy; rather, it is a specialized acute emergency mental health intervention which requires specialized training. As physical first aid is to surgery, crisis intervention is to psychotherapy. Thus, crisis intervention is sometimes called “emotional first aid”. Designed to present the core elements of a comprehensive, systematic and multi-component crisis intervention curriculum, this course will prepare participants to understand a wide range of crisis intervention services for both the individual and for groups. Fundamentals of Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) will be outlined and participants will leave with the knowledge and tools to provide several group crisis interventions, specifically demobilizations, defusings and the Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD). The need for appropriate follow-up services and referrals when necessary will also be discussed.

This course is designed for anyone in the fields of Business & Industry Crisis Intervention, Disaster Response, Education, Emergency Services, Employee Assistance, Healthcare, Homeland Security, Mental Health, Military, Spiritual Care, and Traumatic Stress.

Program Highlights:

Psychological crisis and psychological crisis intervention
Resistance, resiliency, recovery continuum
Critical incident stress management
Evidence-based practice
Basic crisis communication techniques
Common psychological and behavioral crisis reactions
Putative and empirically-derived mechanisms
SAFER-Revised model
Suicide intervention
Relevant research findings
Large group crisis interventions
Small group crisis interventions
Adverse outcome associated with crisis intervention
Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD)

Course Description:
This 3-day course combines ALL of the content of ICISF’s Assisting Individuals in Crisis & Group Crisis Intervention courses.

Program Highlights:

Psychological crisis and psychological crisis intervention
Resistance, resiliency, recovery continuum
Critical incident stress management
Evidence-based practice
Basic crisis communication techniques
Common psychological and behavioral crisis reactions
Putative and empirically-derived mechanisms
SAFER-Revised model
Suicide intervention
Relevant research findings
Large group crisis interventions
Small group crisis interventions
Adverse outcome associated with crisis intervention
Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD)