You only get one chance to answer a crisis call the right way. In those raw, urgent moments—when a client reveals suicidal intent, breaks down over a devastating loss, or can no longer bear their pain—your voice becomes their lifeline. What you say and how you say it can either build a bridge to safety or leave them stranded in silence. This course is your preparation for that moment.
Whether you’ve taken that late-night call from a panicked client or anticipate the moment you might, Crisis Calls Skills offers practical tools to support others while staying grounded yourself. Prepare now—so when the moment comes, you won’t feel unprepared.
Kelly Lannon, APC, BC-TMH, CMCC, is a seasoned crisis intervention specialist and Air Force combat veteran. With years of experience on the Veterans Crisis Line and in trauma-focused care for military personnel and their families, Kelly brings grounded wisdom and evidence-based strategies to the emotionally charged task of managing crisis calls. Her therapeutic foundation in CBT, DBT, CPT, and existential-humanistic approaches provides the ideal blend of structure and heart that this topic demands.
Kelly’s training style is clear, supportive, and experiential. She offers practical, real-world guidance while empowering clinicians to recognize their own emotional reactions and professional limits. Her teaching helps participants walk away with a concrete plan, tailored resources, and a new level of emotional readiness.
This course explores the definition and impact of crisis, types of crisis calls including suicide ideation and financial distress, and strategies for engaging clients in distress. It covers developing a crisis response toolkit, identifying inclusive community and national resources, and managing professional expectations and fears. Through this training, clinicians gain a reliable framework to assess, plan, and respond effectively to moments of high acuity and risk.
Key Takeaways:
Recognize and define crisis situations: Learn to understand and define crisis from multiple perspectives and identify when a situation requires immediate intervention.
Develop resource-based response plans: Gain tools for building a comprehensive crisis response plan with local, state, and national support.
Respond with empathy and clarity: Practice techniques for engaging clients with calm, clear communication—even in chaotic moments.
Why This Course?
Expert instruction from lived experience: Learn from an instructor who has spent years on the frontlines of crisis intervention for veterans and military families.
Immediate clinical impact: Gain strategies and tools you can apply immediately in your practice to support clients in acute distress.
Trusted CE provider: Offered by Telehealth Certification Institute, a leader in high-quality behavioral health training that reflects our mission to empower clinicians with excellence and compassion.
Learning Objectives:
Define a crisis and develop resources to utilize when a crisis occurs.
Examine types of crisis calls and generate a plan for these calls.
Engage with the client and manage expectations and fears.
Whether you’re new to handling crisis calls or seeking to refine your current approach, this course offers essential insights and strategies to prepare you for some of the toughest—and most important—moments in clinical practice.
Enroll in this course today and be ready when it matters most.
This is a non-interactive, self-study course. Instruction consists of 1 hour of video instruction and a post-test.
Availability: From the time of registration, you have six months to access the coursework.
Who Should Attend: This course is intended for clinicians who provide behavioral health services.
Teaching Methods: This is a non-interactive, self-study course. Teaching methods for this course include recorded lectures, videos, a post-test, and a course evaluation.
How to Attend: Instructions for attending and completing a course can be found here.
Kelly Lannon, APC, BC-TMH, CMCC; an Air Force combat veteran, has a Masters in Mental Health Counseling from the Margaret Warner Graduate school at University of Rochester. Kelly completed her graduate work with the Canandaigua, NY Veteran Affairs. While at the VA, she assisted veterans in processing trauma, while coping with substance use concerns. After completing graduate work, Kelly continued to work in crisis intervention and suicide prevention with veterans, active duty military, and their families. Her therapeutic approach is based in Existential and Humanistic approaches, combining skills found in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) to best serve individual needs.
Disclosure Statement: The instructor for this course receive compensation for their services. There are no reported conflicts of interest to disclose.
Credit Hours: This course consists of 1 continuing education hour of credit.
Counselors:
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Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No, 6693. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Mental Health Counselors. #MHC-0048.
Marriage and Family Therapists: Many MFT licensing boards accept our courses or one of the approvals which we have from professional associations. You can check with your board to determine if your licensing board would accept this course.
Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0135, effective May 8, 2025.
Social Workers:
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Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, #1609, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 05/02/2024 – 05/02/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 1 clinical continuing education credit.
Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Social Workers #SW-0435.
Addiction Professionals:
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This course has been approved by Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #193104, Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is responsible for all aspects of the programming.
Psychologists:
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Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Telehealth Certification Institute LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Psychologists #PSY-0128.
Art Therapists: Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for Licensed Creative Arts Therapists #CAT-0093.
Other Professionals: This course qualifies for 60 minutes of instructional content as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and professional organizations. Retain your certificate of completion and contact your board or organization for specific filing requirements.
This course was recorded 5/20/2020.
