In this course, you have learned the importance of different communication styles, methods, and approaches.
Now, you are learning about crisis communication techniques and how to use them to effectively communicate.
This assignment will help you practice identifying when to use different crisis communication techniques in
different situations.
Prompt
For this assignment, you will need to choose which crisis communication techniques you would use at different
points of time in two different scenarios.
Scenario One
You are working as a Department of Children and Families (DCF) counselor, and you are meeting with a
young, single mother at the DCF office. The mother is present with a close female friend, and you, as the DCF
caseworker, must deliver a custody order from the family court. The mother has been deemed temporarily unfit
to care for her daughter, who is two years old. As the meeting begins, the mother is seated in a chair, holding
her daughter. The mother thought the meeting was a regular monthly meeting and does not know that she is
about to lose custody of her daughter. You tell the mother about the custody order stating, “I am sorry about
this, but this is the best for your daughter, and you, right now.” The mother begins to cry loudly and is refusing
to let go of her daughter.
At this point, what crisis communication technique would you use to immediately handle the situation, and
why?