From the author: Here is a dictionary entry from the book “Lexicon of Social Work: A Study Guide.” The dry, laconic, scientific style of the article is determined by the requirements of the publishing house. Crisis counseling, along with crisis psychotherapy, is aimed at providing psychological assistance in experiencing a critical situation. A critical situation is associated with internal and external events occurring in a person’s life. Examples of such events may be: irreparable loss (death of a loved one, loss of health, disability, etc.); unacceptable behavior of another (betrayal, failure to meet expectations, physical or sexual violence, etc.); objective changes in status, financial situation, life prospects (dismissal, loss of savings, home, bankruptcy). The unifying feature of these situations is that the “unacceptable event” that has occurred cannot be canceled; it becomes a fact of existence. If, while experiencing a critical situation, a person does not find ways to adapt and does not come to terms with the new circumstances of life, his psychological state changes: he is immersed in destructive experiences. Crisis counseling begins with providing the client with emergency psychological assistance, which is primarily aimed at working with his condition, and not with the content of his problem. Such assistance is based on the principles of symptom-centered control, short-termism, realism and personal involvement of a professional. The implementation of this strategy is associated with the creation of specific relationships with the client, based on acceptance, understanding and an unconditionally positive attitude towards him. Characteristic features of crisis counseling are empathic contact, urgency, a high level of activity of the consultant, limiting goals to normalizing the condition, support, focus on the main problem, respect. It is assumed that after normalizing the emotional state and achieving an acceptable level of adaptation, the client will become more capable of rationally solving a problem or psychologically accepting a new life situation. Further, psychological assistance can be carried out as problem-oriented counseling: the problem is discussed, actions already taken to solve the problem are identified; obstacles are identified and client opportunities are discussed. One of the most important lines of solving the problem is initiating support from social networks. To carry out crisis counseling, a psychologist must rely on knowledge of the patterns of crises caused by various initiating events. Most often, crisis counseling is carried out in connection with the following client problems: - post-traumatic stress disorder associated with experiencing catastrophic events, shock caused by participation in hostilities or other armed conflicts; - experienced physical or sexual violence; - experiencing acute grief caused by irreparable loss ;− family and love problems caused by unacceptable, from the client’s point of view, behavior of a partner or child; experiences. First of all, these are: anger, guilt, fear and anxiety, depression, grief. Particular attention is paid here to the risk of developing suicidal behavior. Often, a client ends up in counseling only after he has made an unsuccessful suicide attempt. There is a practice of crisis counseling both during personal meetings with clients and remotely. Remote crisis counseling is carried out by a network of emergency psychological help phones, which are sometimes called “Helplines.” Crisis psychotherapy, unlike crisis counseling, is indicated for, 1999.