Identifying a Range of Needed Interventions

In order to address the issues identified in the assessment process, a range of interventions may be required. Individuals at risk for targeted violence, due to the attitudes and behaviors they may have exhibited in various settings, are often in need of:

• Case management
• Housing support
• Employment and job skills support
• Individual psychotherapy or counseling
• Family therapy or counseling
• Religious counseling
• Access to educational opportunities
• Anger management and other behavioral issues
• Mental health services including psychiatric medications
• Alcohol or substance abuse treatment
• Medical services

Interventions and support services that cover this wide spectrum require a range of professionals and community partners involved in the management process.  

Suggested Multidisciplinary Team Structure and Process

Best practices indicate that the core members of the multidisciplinary team should include:

1. An identified team leader or chair
2. Mental and behavioral health specialists
3. Institutional representatives such as school personnel or people from the workplace such as Human Resource leaders (Representatives would vary by case-specific needs.)
4. Community representatives who can serve as liaisons to the wider community, community leaders, and community services
5. Law enforcement

Given the range of people in the team meetings, a formal information sharing agreement should be developed and agreed to by all members. The team should meet regularly (once a month at minimum) to review the coordination of the range of interventions and support services, progress made or barriers encountered, next steps required, and any updated information related to assessment of risk.

In module 1, you had the chance to think about treatment planning and interventions related to the different intervention points, including: Attraction; Socialization, Participation, Disengagement, and Reintegration. Please review these again and keep them in mind as we move on to look at specific types of interventions. Please note that, for the most part, interventions in this space have been shown to have clinical utility and support as “best practices” given their use across multiple intervention programs. However, they don’t yet have the designation as “Evidence-Based” or “Evidence-Informed.” 

Interventions

As mental health specialists, you are already trained and experienced in providing a range of interventions to address mental and behavioral health issues. In this part of the module, we will look at some of the major intervention models and strategies with a focus on their application to people at risk for targeted violence. Hopefully, you will see that your current training and experience are transferable to this specific population once you understand some of the unique issues faced in this work.