Crisis Intervention
Immediate Crisis Support
If you're in crisis right now, please reach out immediately:
Expert Psychiatric Crisis Care
Mental health crises require immediate, expert intervention. Our crisis services provide rapid assessment, safety planning, and stabilization to help you navigate psychiatric emergencies with compassion and clinical excellence.
A psychiatric crisis is a situation in which thoughts, feelings, or behaviors create immediate risk of harm to yourself or others, or result in inability to care for yourself. Crises can emerge suddenly or build over time, and they require specialized psychiatric expertise to assess, stabilize, and determine the appropriate level of care.
At RECO Integrated Psychiatry, our crisis intervention services bridge the gap between outpatient care and emergency hospitalization. We provide urgent psychiatric evaluation and intervention to prevent avoidable hospitalizations while ensuring safety for those experiencing acute mental health emergencies.
When to Seek Crisis Intervention
Understanding when to reach out for immediate psychiatric help
Suicidal Thoughts or Behaviors
- Active suicidal ideation with specific plan or intent
- Suicide attempt or aborted attempt
- Gathering means (stockpiling medications, acquiring weapons, researching methods)
- Saying goodbye or giving away possessions
- Expressing hopelessness or feeling like a burden
- Recent suicide attempt requiring follow-up care
- Dramatic mood improvement after prolonged depression (may indicate decision to attempt)
If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts: Call 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) immediately, go to your nearest emergency room, or call 911.
Severe Psychotic Symptoms
- Command hallucinations instructing harmful behaviors
- Paranoid delusions causing extreme fear or dangerous behaviors
- Disorganized thinking preventing coherent communication
- Inability to distinguish between reality and psychosis
- Acute psychotic break or first-episode psychosis
- Catatonia or severe psychomotor disturbance
Severe Anxiety or Panic
- Uncontrollable panic attacks multiple times daily
- Inability to leave home due to severe agoraphobia
- Complete functional impairment from anxiety
- Physical symptoms requiring medical rule-out (chest pain, difficulty breathing)
- Anxiety-driven dangerous behaviors (e.g., severe OCD rituals causing harm)
Acute Manic Episode
- Severe mood elevation with impaired judgment
- Reckless behaviors (excessive spending, sexual indiscretions, dangerous activities)
- Little to no sleep for multiple days without exhaustion
- Grandiose delusions or psychotic features during mania
- Agitation or aggression during manic state
Inability to Function or Care for Self
- Cannot perform basic self-care (eating, hygiene, taking medications)
- Severe cognitive impairment from psychiatric symptoms
- Complete withdrawal or catatonic state
- Unsafe living situation due to mental health symptoms
Medication-Related Emergencies
- Severe medication side effects (dystonia, akathisia, serotonin syndrome, NMS)
- Overdose (intentional or accidental)
- Dangerous withdrawal symptoms (benzodiazepines, alcohol)
- Medication non-compliance causing acute decompensation
What Crisis Intervention Looks Like at RECO
Immediate Triage and Access
When you call in crisis, you'll speak with a clinical team member who will assess urgency and coordinate immediate or same-day/next-day appointment. For active emergencies (suicidal intent, acute psychosis, immediate danger), we'll guide you to appropriate emergency resources while coordinating your follow-up care.
Comprehensive Crisis Assessment
During your crisis intervention appointment, we conduct thorough psychiatric evaluation including:
- Current symptoms and precipitating stressors
- Suicidal/homicidal ideation assessment (Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale)
- Mental status examination
- Review of recent medication compliance and effectiveness
- Assessment of support system and environmental factors
- Medical screening for contributing physical conditions
- Substance use evaluation
- Risk and protective factors analysis
Safety Planning
Collaborative development of a written safety plan tailored to your specific situation. Evidence-based safety planning includes:
- Warning signs: Identifying thoughts, images, moods, and behaviors that indicate crisis
- Internal coping strategies: Things you can do without contacting others
- Social contacts: People and places that provide distraction
- Support contacts: Family members or friends who can help
- Professional resources: Clinicians and emergency services with contact information
- Means restriction: Removing or limiting access to lethal means
- Reasons for living: Identifying what makes life worth living
Immediate Interventions
Based on assessment, we implement crisis stabilization interventions:
- Medication adjustments: Rapid titration or change of psychiatric medications
- PRN medications: Prescribing as-needed medications for acute symptom management
- Brief interventions: Cognitive-behavioral crisis interventions, emotion regulation skills
- Referrals: Coordination with therapists, case managers, or other providers
- Family involvement: Engaging support system with your consent
Level of Care Determination
We determine the appropriate treatment intensity:
- Outpatient with increased frequency: Safe to manage in community with more frequent appointments
- Intensive Outpatient (IOP): 3-4 days/week, 3 hours/day programming
- Partial Hospitalization (PHP): 5 days/week, 6 hours/day structured treatment
- Inpatient hospitalization: 24-hour psychiatric care for acute stabilization
- Residential treatment: 24-hour care in residential setting
We coordinate admissions and provide warm hand-offs to higher levels of care when needed.
Follow-Up and Continuity
Crisis intervention is the beginning, not the end, of care:
- Close follow-up: Scheduled within 24-72 hours for high-risk patients
- Safety check-ins: Phone or text safety monitoring between appointments
- Care coordination: Communication with therapists, case managers, family
- Transition planning: Stepping down from higher levels of care
- Ongoing treatment: Integration into comprehensive psychiatric care
Essential Crisis Contact Information
Keep these resources accessible for yourself or loved ones
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
24/7 confidential support for people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress.
Crisis Text Line
Free 24/7 text-based support with trained crisis counselors.
Veterans Crisis Line
Specialized support for veterans, service members, and their families.
SAMHSA Helpline
Treatment referral and information service for mental health and substance use.
Emergency Services
For immediate medical or psychiatric emergencies requiring urgent intervention.
RECO Crisis Support
Our team provides crisis assessment and intervention for psychiatric emergencies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Seek crisis intervention immediately if you or someone you know is experiencing:
- Suicidal thoughts or plans
- Intent to harm others
- Severe psychotic symptoms (hallucinations, delusions causing distress or danger)
- Inability to care for basic needs due to mental health symptoms
- Severe panic or anxiety causing inability to function
- Acute substance intoxication with psychiatric symptoms
- Severe medication side effects or withdrawal
Crisis intervention provides immediate assessment, safety planning, and stabilization. If you're unsure whether your situation qualifies as a crisis, call us—we'll help determine the appropriate level of care.
During crisis intervention, we:
- Conduct comprehensive psychiatric assessment including symptom evaluation, mental status exam, and risk assessment
- Evaluate safety using evidence-based tools like the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale
- Create or update safety plan with specific coping strategies and emergency contacts
- Provide medication adjustments if needed (changes to current medications or PRN medications for acute symptoms)
- Determine appropriate level of care (outpatient, IOP, PHP, or inpatient)
- Coordinate with support system (family, therapist, case manager) with your consent
- Schedule close follow-up within 24-72 hours for high-risk situations
The focus is on immediate stabilization and ensuring your safety.
No. Crisis intervention is outpatient psychiatric care designed to prevent hospitalization when safe. We assess whether you can be safely managed in the community with intensive support, or whether a higher level of care is needed.
Many crises can be managed without hospitalization through:
- Comprehensive safety planning
- Medication optimization
- Increased appointment frequency
- Connection to Intensive Outpatient or Partial Hospitalization programs
- Coordination with therapists and support systems
Hospitalization is recommended when:
- Imminent risk of suicide or harm to others that cannot be managed safely in the community
- Severe psychosis with impaired reality testing
- Inability to care for basic needs (eating, safety, shelter)
- Medical complications requiring 24-hour monitoring
Our goal is to provide the least restrictive level of care that ensures safety.
Yes. We provide crisis intervention for both established patients and new patients in crisis. When you call, we'll assess the urgency and coordinate appropriate care.
For new patients: We can often provide same-day or next-day crisis appointments. If the situation requires more immediate intervention than we can provide, we'll guide you to emergency resources (988, Crisis Text Line, nearest emergency room) and coordinate follow-up care once you're stabilized.
For active emergencies: Call 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), go to your nearest emergency room, or call 911.
A safety plan is a written, personalized intervention designed to help you stay safe during suicidal crises. Research shows safety planning significantly reduces suicide attempts.
Key components include:
- Warning signs: Recognizing thoughts, moods, and behaviors that signal a crisis is developing
- Internal coping strategies: Things you can do on your own (exercise, music, journaling, distraction)
- Social contacts and settings: People and places that provide distraction and support
- Support contacts: Family or friends you can reach out to for help
- Professional resources: Mental health clinicians and crisis services with phone numbers
- Means restriction: Specific steps to remove or limit access to lethal means (firearms, medications, etc.)
The safety plan is collaborative—we develop it together based on your unique situation, strengths, and support system. Keep it accessible (phone photo, written copy) and review it regularly with your treatment team.
Crisis appointments are prioritized based on acuity:
- Active emergency (imminent suicide risk, acute psychosis with danger): Directed to emergency services (988, ER, 911) with coordination for follow-up
- High-risk crisis (suicidal ideation without imminent plan, severe symptoms): Same-day or next-day appointment
- Urgent but non-emergent (symptom exacerbation, medication issues): Within 24-48 hours
When you call, our clinical team will assess urgency and coordinate the appropriate timeline. We maintain flexibility in our schedule to accommodate crisis situations.