Internationally recognized author & educator for professionals, parents, and kids
Posts tagged crisis intervention training
LSCI Training Uses Problems Situations as Opportunities to Connect
07 years
by signewhitson
in Uncategorized
In the year 2000, as a young clinical social worker just two years out of graduate school and trying to find ways to effectively connect with tweens and teens in a residential treatment center, I lucked into attending an LSCI Certification training. To say that the advanced skills of LSCI changed my life would be an understatement. 18 years later, I can honestly say that I use LSCI skills every. single. day. in my work as the Director of Counseling at an Independent School, as a Mama of two daughters, and as a colleague.
It is the most practical set of skills I have ever learned, but more importantly, it is a way of thinking about young 
people. LSCI taught me to always LOOK BEYOND BEHAVIOR and to focus my attention on discovering the beliefs, thoughts, and feelings that underlie a young person’s challenging behaviors.
LSCI keeps foremost in my mind that every person has a story and that my most valuable role can be in connecting with that young person so that I can help them put that emotional story into words–rather than expressing themselves through self-destructive behaviors.
That’s LSCI in a nutshell–though the 4-day certification course offers so, so much more in terms of practical, step-by-step skills to reach and teach young people with patterns of self-defeating behaviors. I’m always happy to tell you more about what LSCI offers. Please feel free to email me at signewhitson@lsci.org or check out LSCI’s website at www.lsci.org
In the meantime, today I’m thrilled to say that LSCI is thriving not just in the U.S., but throughout Canada, Europe, and beyond! Check out these images of LSCI training in Flanders, Belgium last week:
Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI) LOGO Contest is Open. Vote now!
08 years
I need your help! As many of you know, I am the COO of the fantastic Life Space Crisis Intervention Institute–a training program whose elements I use every single day in my work with young people.
We are in the process of updating our logo and have narrowed our designs down to these three choices. Please let me know which one of the images below you find most visually appealing and which one you think best communicates LSCI’s work with professionals, parents, and kiddos.
Simply identify your vote as being for Image 1 (ALL Capital letters), Image 2 (lowercase lsci), or Image 3 (handprints). Everyone who votes in the Comments section below will be entered in a random drawing to win a free copy of the LSCI text: Talking With Students in Conflict.
Winner announced on 6/15!
The LSCI Institute offers Training for Parents, Foster Parents & Caregivers
012 years
Trainings from the Parents Division of the LSCI Institute help parents and caregivers learn specific skills for building positive relationships with kids, prevent and de-escalate conflicts, and utilize consistent, verbal strategies for crisis intervention. The LSCI Skills for Parents trainings:
- Provide parents with specific skills for building positive relationships with kids
- Encourage the use of preventative and non-physical crisis de-escalation strategies
- Provide a framework for verbal crisis intervention that is consistent from situation to situation
Part 1: Conflict Prevention & De-Escalation
The Conflict Prevention & De-Escalation course presents foundational LSCI concepts such as the Conflict Cycle™, effective listening, crisis de-escalation, and “Timeline” skills through engaging activities and discussions that are relevant and accessible to parents and caregivers. Part 1 can be taught as a 1-day course or as a series of hour-long workshops.
Part 2: Managing Challenging Behaviors
The Managing Challenging Behaviors program identifies the six most common, chronic self-defeating patterns of behavior in kids and provides parents with a consistent 4-step process that helps families effectively address and modify each one. Part 2 of the curriculum is designed as an 8-session program, with one session dedicated to each of the six self-defeating patterns, along with an Introduction and Conclusion session.
FIND OUT what participants are saying about LSCI Skills for Parents trainings: http://www.lsci.org/parents-division-lsci-institute
FOR MORE INFORMATION & TO SCHEDULE an LSCI Skills for Parents course, please click on the LSCI Training page or email me at signe@signewhitson.com.
LSCI Helps Adults Understand Why Kids Act the Way They Do
27013 years
A youth worker from Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch in Texas recently wrote this about LSCI training:
“LSCI is a great tool to use to be able to gain insight into why a child acts the way he does. It allows me to get to the root of a problem and help him make a change instead of just putting a band-aid on the problem. It’s a great everyday tool for building relationships with kids.”
Thanks for the feedback and thanks to our great trainers at Cal Farley’s who help adults turn crises into learning opportunities for kids with self-defeating behaviors.
For LSCI training opportunities in your area or to check out our online training course, please visit the LSCI Training page on this site or visit www.lsci.org
When Parents Mirror Kids’ Behavior: The Conflict Cycle on NBC’s Parenthood
13 years
The Conflict Cycle™ is Life Space Crisis Intervention’s (LSCI) major paradigm for understanding the dynamics of escalating power struggles between adults and children. In our training courses for parents and professionals, we explain that in times of stress and conflict, kids can create in adults their feelings, and, if not trained, adults will mirror their behaviors. In the heat of the moment, when adults do what comes naturally–what thousands of years of evolution have prepared their bodies to do–they often only make matters worse. That is why understanding the LSCI Conflict Cycle is the first line of defense against fueling further conflict.
This clip from NBC’s Parenthood is a perfect example of how Kristina gets caught in a Conflict Cycle and inadvertently mirrors Max’s behavior, thus escalating their power struggle. Ultimately, both mother and son lose out. The look of defeat on her face at the end of the clip says it all.
For more information on the LSCI Conflict Cycle and training for parents and professionals, please visit the LSCI link above or visit www.lsci.org
One Teacher’s Milestone Moment in the Classroom
87613 years
Usually, when I’m at the pool with my kids, my attention is focused on watching dives, adjusting goggles, and re-applying sunscreen. Last week, however, I had the great pleasure of talking to a teacher while we watched my 5-year old perform a series of Lemon Drops and Cannonballs into the water.
The conversation started because my little pool jumper is a total extrovert and has never met anyone who wasn’t a friend. She introduced herself to the adults around her, including to the teacher with whom I then began a conversation. In the course of talking about the joys of working with young kids, the veteran teacher shared with me many of the challenges she has faced over the years. One story, in particular, reminded me of the truism we always teach in Life Space Crisis Intervention training:
“The problems kids cause are not the causes of their problems.”
The story went something like this: (more…)