Crisis Response in the Duke Community
If you need consultation or assistance regarding the impact of a recent/ongoing crisis, please contact CAPS at (919) 660-1000.
Duke students’ experiences of emotional distress are private most of the time. However, sometimes a public event becomes distressing, even traumatizing, to a segment of our students or to our entire community. For instance, students in a particular residence hall might feel stress and grief upon the death of a hall mate; a cohort of graduate students in an academic department might be confused and upset by the sudden hospitalization of a friend; students who identify as members of an under-represented group may feel affronted by an act of discrimination or harassment. Some crises are of sufficient magnitude to impact the entire student community, such as the 9/11 attacks, the recent shootings on college campuses, or the devastation from hurricane Katrina.
When these community crises produce heightened stress among students, we expand our capacity to provide additional types of services quickly. Often CAPS staff will respond in the community, going to a residence hall or other location where students feel safe. We also increase our counselors’ availability to see students who come into CAPS in reaction to a community crisis. At other times we will provide written information about crisis reactions and helpful coping strategies. CAPS counselors have training in critical incident stress management and can conduct crisis debriefings when appropriate. The type of crisis intervention provided depends upon the circumstances and is planned in consultation with students, administrators, staff and/or faculty representatives for the students affected.
Our philosophy of crisis intervention is simple. You are not alone: when people come together in response to crisis, healing can occur. Whether you are a faculty member, administrator, staff member, or a student in the midst of a crisis affecting any student community, please contact CAPS at (919) 660-1000. Simply ask the receptionist to connect you with a member of our Crisis Response Team.