eCPR is an educational program designed to teach people to assist others through an emotional crisis by three simple steps:
C = Connecting
P = emPowering, and
R = Revitalizing
The Connecting process of eCPR involves deepening listening skills, practicing presence, and creating a sense of safety for the person experiencing a crisis.
The emPowering process helps people better understand how to feel empowered themselves as well as to assist others to feel more hopeful and engaged in life.
In the Revitalizating process, people re-engage in relationships with their loved ones or their support system, and they resume or begin routines that support health and wellness which reinforces the person’s sense of understanding and accomplishment, further energizing the healing process.
eCPR is based on the principles found to be shared by several support approaches: trauma-informed care, counseling after disasters, peer support to avoid continuing emotional despair, emotional intelligence, suicide prevention, and cultural attunement. It was developed with input from a diverse group of recognized leaders from across the U.S., who themselves have learned how to recover and grow from emotional crises. They have wisdom by the grace of first- hand experience.
Through eCPR we learn that people in emotional crisis express their feelings as a form of communication to be understood.
Our approach assumes that people are doing their best to cope with an experience beyond their current ability to effectively manage. The sooner we begin support for a person in emotional crisis, the more likely it is that the person will make a full, speedy return to a life in the community.
In essence, eCPR helps people learn the skills required to act as a bridge between a person in distress and the community at large, assuring that important roles are not lost and the person in crisis reintegrates quickly back into the daily routine of everyday life.
Our approach is holistic, heart-to-heart, and embedded in a hopeful belief that by using our inner experience we can help another person recover from an emotional crisis.
By first applying eCPR, most emotional crises can be worked through. However, in some instances, people may still need professional help.
Emotional crisis is a universal experience. It can happen to anyone, at any time. When we are exposed to this extraordinary situation, we develop amazing and creative ways to protect ourselves.
To onlookers, these protective mechanisms may look very odd, even scary. To us, they have meaning.
Through using eCPR we can better understand and overcome our fear of seemingly unusual behavior brought on by an emotional crisis. Through eCPR we learn how to form supportive connections that empower the person in emotional crisis so they are able to feel revitalized and quickly resume meaningful roles in the community.
