Family Crises

Crisis within family life is not anything new or unheard of. Every family will go through some kind of crisis at some point. Family scholar Reuben Hill spent a portion of his career studying stresses within the family system and created a model to identify the different ways in which we cope with stress. This model is the ABCX family crisis model. A is stressor event and the subsequent hardships that are created because of the stressor event. B is how the stress is managed, typically through a variety of coping resources that are available to the family. C is very much dependent upon the people that are involved in the situation, it is how the event is defined by the individuals. Together, A, B, and C come together to create X or the crisis.

When discussing crises, it's important to understand that a crisis is created not just by an individual situation but by our interpretation of the situation and our ability to adjust to that situation. It really all goes back to our perception of an event and the way that we choose to handle things in our lives. There are numerous ways that individuals and families can cope with stress. The following is a list that we created in class of some ways that people cope with stress.

* Listening or performing music
* Watching fish in a fish tank
* Listening to moving water (fountains, waterfalls, rivers, fish tanks, etc.)
* Receiving support from a "church family"
* Receiving support or seeking guidance from extended family members
* Talking or communicating with others
* Exercising
* Journaling
* Friends or community support
* Food
* Seeking refuge
* Family flexibility
* Religious or other rituals and traditions
* Humor
* Family trips and activities
* Cohesion
* Working together
* Planning ahead

Although there is much that we cannot control when we are experiencing a crisis in our lives, we can control the way that we react and therefore have some power over the outcome of the experience.