Proactively and In the Heat of the Moment: Administrative Advice for Communication Instructors to Help Students Cope With Crisis

Authors

Jennifer H. Waldeck, University of California, Santa Barbara

Abstract

This article provides advice on helping students cope with crisis. The first section discusses communication research that is pertinent to helping students be prepared proactively to deal with relationship crises. Second, it focuses on strategies that teachers of interpersonal communication survey courses may use to deal with students who are already victims of these situations, and as a result, may be emotionally troubled, abusing drugs or alcohol, or have suicidal feelings. Although communication faculty often are perceived to be immediate and thus approached by troubled students, most are rarely qualified to dispense or perform counseling duties. Recommendations are made in the article to avoid the numerous problems that might result from their willingness to advise a student in trouble.

Recommended Citation

Waldeck, J. H. (1999). Proactively and in the heat of the moment: Administrative advice for communication instructors to help students cope with crisis. Journal of the Association for Communication Administration, 28(1), 37–44.