Life Space Crisis Intervention is the advanced skill of using problems as opportunities to create long term behavioral changes in young people.  The certification in LSCI teaches professionals to look beyond surface behavior in schools and treatment settings and to seek to understand what’s really going on in the world of students.  When we respond constructively to kids’ thoughts and feelings rather than reacting punitively to their misbehaviors, we begin to truly make a difference in their lives.

 

One teacher from an urban high school in New Orleans recently sent me this message following her LSCI training:

 

I used LSCI with one of my advisees yesterday, and it helped me find out the central issue of why he had walked out of class–very different from what I originally thought. He was struggling to do an assignment on the American Dream because he felt like the American Dream was not possible to achieve, so why even talk about it. What a revelation, which wouldn’t have been possible without LSCI.

 

Imagine how different the outcome would have been if this teacher had NOT taken the time to listen the student to find out what led him to walk out of class.  If she had applied a kneejerk, rote consequence, it would have been an efficient–and even justifiable–official school response, but it would not have shed any light on the reasons for the student’s behavior.  What’s more, it would most likely have further alienated a student who was already feeling disenfranchised and virtually guaranteed that the same issue would happen again (and again and again).

 

Instead, in under 10 minutes, this LSCI-trained teacher made a choice to truly CONNECT with the student, VALIDATE his feelings, and TEACH him better ways to cope with them in the future.  A learning opportunity was seized, a relationship was improved, a young person felt valued, and new skills were taught.  Never miss an opportunity to make a difference in the life of a young person.

 

To find out more, visit www.lsci.org

 

Look beyond behavior