Crisis Counseling Certificate

Online Post-Graduate Certificate Program

Does your job or career aspirations involve addressing the needs of people who may be in a crisis relating to their mental health or substance use?

Pressure is mounting for crisis counselors, first responders, direct support professionals, and other frontline mental and behavioral health care providers, due to the growing number of people experiencing  high levels of psychological distress in the post-pandemic world.

NYU Silver School of Social Work developed this crisis counseling certificate program specifically for frontline workers with a bachelor’s or master’s degree to give you the in-demand skills and confidence to better serve people in urgent need of support.

This ten-session, 20-hour online program draws on the expertise of NYU Silver faculty to prepare you to deliver trauma-informed, culturally sensitive crisis counseling for diverse populations with specialized needs. 

Whether your goal is to meet the skyrocketing demand for 988 crisis line counselors at over 200 crisis centers across the nation, or build a career in behavioral health services, this program gives you valuable, direct intervention expertise and self-care skills to prevent burnout.

By the end of this certificate program, attendees will be able to:

• Identify the signs of a mental/behavioral health crisis

• Understand fundamental theories of crisis intervention

• Know evidenced-based intervention strategies
  

• Apply rapid assessment and intervention skills in simulated crisis scenarios

• Work with specialized populations (e.g., LGBTQIA+, Veterans, youth, older adults, individuals with substance use disorder)

• Apply for paid crisis counseling positions, including at 988

• Advance to case manager or care navigator within your organization due to new direct mental health intervention competencies

• Serve in direct-support professional roles for diverse populations

• Apply with confidence for further training and development in mental health disciplines, such as social work or counseling

• Employ effective strategies to relieve work-related stress and extend your career longevity

• In-demand skills to excel and advance in your career

• Engaging lessons taught by NYU Silver faculty

• Carefully curated between-session assignments

• Trauma-informed, culturally sensitive approaches

• Membership in the NYU Silver community

• Earn an NYU Post-Graduate Certificate

This certificate program requires the completion of 10 two-hour sessions over the course of the Spring semester. The course will be held online. Assignments include weekly readings and a final learning assessment in the form of a written assignment.

The program will run live online on Thursdays from 4:55 - 6:55 pm over the course of the Fall 2024 academic term.

Fall 2024

• September 5, 19
• October 3, 17, 31
• November 14, 21
• December 5, 12, 19

Another cohort of the program will run live online on Thursdays from 4:55 - 6:55 pm over the course of the Spring 2025 academic term.

Spring 2025

• January 23, 30
• February 6, 13, 20, 27
• March 13, 27
• April 3, 10
  

Carol Tosone, PhD, LCSW

Dr. Carol Tosone is a Professor and served as Founding Director of the DSW Program in Clinical Social Work at NYU Silver School of Social Work. In addition to co-directing the Crisis Counseling Post-Graduate Certificate Program she is Co-Director of the Trauma-Informed Clinical Practice Post-Master’s Certificate Program.

Dr. Tosone’s primary research interest is clinician dual exposure to trauma (also known as shared trauma), a phenomenon she has studied among those, like herself, who were practicing in lower Manhattan during the 9/11 attacks and during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as those practicing in Northern Ireland during “The Troubles,” and elsewhere during similar collective catastrophic events. She has served as a consultant to Psychology Beyond Borders in Indonesia; a member of the Doctors without Borders Hurricane Sandy Mental Health Response Team; and was a consultant to UNICEF and the Afghanistan Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs, and Disabled in the development of National Occupational Skills Standards for Social Work.

Dr. Tosone is series editor for Essential Clinical Social Work Series published by Springer, editor or co-editor of five books, and author of numerous professional articles and book chapters. Among her many honors, she received the American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the NYU Distinguished Teaching Award. She is the editor emerita of the Clinical Social Work Journal, a distinguished scholar in the National Academy of Practice in Social Work, and the recipient of the Postgraduate Center Memorial Award in recognition of clinical excellence.

Ben Sher, DSW, MA, LMSW

Ben Sher is the Director of NYU Silver’s Office of Global and Lifelong Learning. He is also a Class of 2024 graduate of NYU Silver's Doctorate in Clinical Social Work program whose capstone project was on access and Disability Justice for college students with mental health disabilities.

Before assuming his current position at NYU in 2015, Ben held a series of increasingly more senior roles at the Institute for Community Living, Inc. (ICL), a metropolitan NYC behavioral healthcare organization serving over 10,000 New Yorkers a year. Ben started his work at ICL running residential programs for people with serious mental illness. After seven years, he transitioned to the Human Resources Department and became the staff trainer for the organization. Ben has 15 years’ experience as a Master Trainer in Non-Violent Crisis Intervention and 20 years’ experience in Crisis Prevention training for staff working with individuals with developmental disabilities. 

Mentoring has been a lifelong commitment of Ben’s. He has supported over 45 students in his tenure as a practicum educator at multiple schools and universities, and he authored the chapter on “Instilling Hope through Social Work Mentoring” in NASW Press’ 2014 book Hope Matters: The Power of Social Work.

Access the Certificate application here.

Application Fee: $50

The cost of this certificate program is $1,200, which includes tuition and the cost of an online compendium of readings.

Available discounts include:

• 25% discount for NYU Silver School of Social Work BSW alumni.
• 25% discount for practicum instructors currently working with NYU Silver School of Social Work undergraduate students.
• 50% discount for Veterans.

Please note: discounts may not be combined.

Deposit: Upon acceptance into the program, a $250 non-refundable deposit is required to secure your place. This deposit is applied to the total cost of tuition.

Refund Policy for Early Withdrawal
The $250.00 program deposit is non-refundable. Students who withdraw before the first class will be refunded 100% of their fees (minus the deposit). Students who withdraw after up to and including two (2) sessions will be refunded 70% of their fees (minus the deposit). Students who withdraw after up to and including four (4) sessions will be refunded 55% of their fees (minus the deposit). Students who withdraw after four (4) sessions will receive no refund.

Doing [NYU Silver’s Trauma-Informed Clinical Practice] certificate program was challenging. But as it got to the end, going through the lectures by Dr. Tosone gave me a new perspective on things. I better understand who I am, my emotional responses to certain things and situations… Most importantly, it equipped me with effective tools to use in my daily work.

- Graduate, NYU Silver Trauma-Informed Clinical Practice Certificate Program

Ben Sher’s a dedicated educator with a lot to offer! It is clear that he cares about his students. He did an exceptional job bringing practical information about professional life to the class. 

- Student, NYU Silver Social Work Practice IV Class