Educational Media Reviews Online

Designed for a teen/young adult audience, but worthwhile for adults as well, Coping with an Emotional Crisis is a first-rate production on the trauma, subsequent reactions, and methods for teens to cope with an emotional crisis. Quick cuts between teens of various gender and ethnicities describing their individual crises are supported by expert explanations from consultant Dr. Robin Goodman of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

This program is effective on several fronts: from the coverage of the types of traumatic stress than can occur, be they short-lived minor upsets such as losing a pet or moving to a new neighborhood, or major tragedies like the death or loss of a loved one, a national catastrophe like Hurricane Katrina, or chronic abuse; the reactions that can occur from physical illness to emotional feelings of guilt, sadness, or numbness; the means of expressing feelings like the importance of crying and how some means of expression can even be detrimental to a person; to seeking support from family, friends, or counselors. As the program emphasizes, the most important thing is to realize that it is perfectly OK to get help dealing with emotional issues. Once that is acknowledged, then one can find help and begin the process of dealing with the crisis.

Since this program is aimed at a younger audience, it provides more of an overview than an in-depth coverage, but it does go into enough detail to offer a complete, well-rounded package for helping teens manage a difficult emotional situation.

Highly recommended, this video/workbook program is a very good choice for high school media centers, community college collections, and is also appropriate for college health sciences collections that deal with adolescent health and development. Human Relations Media has once again proven their expertise in creating educational programs for the young adult audience.