There are many books describing the how-to of school crisis response, but few describe the thoughts and emotions to help guide the application of skills learned. This book provides narratives about traumatic events to supplement concepts with lessons from actual crises. The author documents the perspective of a team leader, vividly illustrating real events to confront the challenges, decisions, and problem-solving demanded to effectively stabilize emotional reactions, ameliorate trauma, and support resilience and recovery.

While encouraging reflection, educating, and strengthening new and experienced responders, this book celebrates the vital work of school psychologists, counselors, administrators, teachers, social workers, and nurses who provide extraordinary service under the most difficult circumstances. It combines an intellectual, evidence-based "in the head" understanding of how to do crisis response with an emotional, empathetic "in the heart" understanding of how it feels to do it.