When I think about the process of crisis intervention, I have to believe in myself and that I actually will be successful in whatever it is I’m trying to do at the moment. Whether it’s trying to convince somebody to do something I want them to do, or persuading them to not do something they’re about to do, (especially if its them getting ready to become violent) (try our cpi training online or our crisis intervention certificate) I must go into it believing the outcome will be what I want it to be. If you go into any situation thinking, “This is never going to work. This is never going to work! All I can say ot that is, “Good luck.”
I have a neighbor who is really big into road biking. You know, those bikes with the skinny little tires? Well, he’s been on me about getting a bike, constantly telling me, “Hey, you’ve got to give it a shot. Try it out.” So, I took his bike out on the road, around the cul de sac, and checked it out. It was kind of cool, so I thought I’d give it a shot. I’ve been looking for something new to do to stay in shape. So, I went out and bought the bike.
A couple of weeks ago, my neighbor, his buddy, and I decided to go out for a ride. They’ve been training for some decathlon or triathlon—something like that—and I didn’t want to slow them down. So, I told them, “Look, I’ll just ride in the back, you guys set the pace. If I can’t hang with you, I’ll just back off and find my way back home. Don’t worry about it.”
We start out, and a little bit of that male ego kicks in. It turns out, we ended up doing 32 miles. Now, at about mile 25 I was really dying. But, that male ego, that pride, maybe even a little Marine Corps Semper Fi kicked in and I wasn’t going to quit, nor was I going to fall back. Quite honestly, at this point I had no idea where we were. I knew in my head, though, that if I just kept pedaling, and I didn’t stop, I would eventually get back home.
Sometimes you just have to tell yourself that you can do it. You have to go into that situation telling yourself, “You know what? No matter what happens, I’m going to keep at it. I’m going to become successful at this.” Now, you may end up spending a lot of energy if you’re pedaling in the wrong direction, or going the opposite way of the crowd, or maybe you’re going off on your own path, so it’s important to make sure you’re on the right path. In this case, I was following the guys in front of me, and I just kept at it, and kept up as best I could. I made it back home.
I will tell you that, for the next two days, I could barely move. I could barely get off the couch. My legs were killing me, but at least I could say, “Hey, I did it.” I believed I could get finish it and get home, and I did exactly that.
So, remember to keep pedaling to the finish line—no matter what you do. This includes crisis intervention. If you can envision a successful outcome and you believe in that successful outcome, you will end up with exactly that—a successful outcome.