Introducing the CRP

The rest of this section will focus on building a Crisis Response Plan or CRP with the individual. A CRP is an evidence-based intervention intended to empower the person experiencing pain. It can help reduce emotional distress and suicidal intent, while discussing reasons for living can strengthen hope. If you are a mental health provider, building and using a CRP is a treatment intervention. If your role is outside the mental health field, we still encourage you to develop the CRP with the individual. It does not replace professional care. That care can be hard to find, may not be covered by insurance, or the person may not want it.

You do not have to figure out the next steps alone. If you need guidance while working with someone on a CRP, call or text nine eight eight or use the online chat at nine eight eight lifeline dot org. You can tell the counselor you are concerned about someone and ask for help thinking through what to do next. A CRP is created with the person, not filled out for them. It includes their warning signs, self-management skills, reasons for living, social support, crisis and professional services, and ways to manage access to lethal means.

The person chooses what belongs in each part. There is no required number of answers to fill in. What matters is that the plan reflects their words and includes steps they would actually use. A CRP is not a safety contract or a promise. The person should know where to find it on a card, in a photo or on their phone, and how to use it when distress first appears, before the suicidal mode is fully activated.

The reasons for living they identified in our last conversation can go into the plan. Now we will work through each part of the CRP together.