CRITICAL INCIDENT
STRESS MANAGEMENT
(CISM) TRAINING
ONTARIO
Assisting Individuals In Crisis & Group Crisis Intervention Training
October 27-29, 2025
Recognized and approved by the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF)
Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) is the standard of care in public safety organizations. This training combines two core courses—Assisting Individuals in Crisis and Group Crisis Intervention—to teach core CISM techniques through instruction and practical group exercises. Participants will gain the skills to reduce acute stress, provide support, and make appropriate referrals.
LOCATION: Online via Zoom
DATES: Monday, October 27 – Wednesday, October 29, 2025
TIME: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM ET
COURSES: Assisting Individuals in Crisis & Group Crisis Intervention, recognized and approved by the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF)
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
This training is designed for individuals who provide support in high-stress environments, including first responders (police, fire, EMS, and corrections), peer support team members, mental health professionals, chaplains, healthcare providers, crisis response teams, and those involved in workplace wellness or human resources. No prior CISM training is required.
COST & REGISTRATION DETAILS
The cost per attendee is $685 + HST ($774.05 total) and includes an e-book and certificates of completion.
Participants must attend all three days to receive ICISF certificates. Space is limited, and registration is on a first-come, first-served basis. Once full, additional applicants will be placed on a waiting list.
To ensure fairness, please confirm that your members can attend, as the agency will be responsible for the full registration fee even if a participant does not attend. The only exception is if the course has not yet started, and a substitute candidate can be provided.
INSTRUCTOR
The course will be delivered by Jess Ram, a retired police inspector and Canadian Certified Counsellor. He brings over 33 years of front-line law enforcement experience, retiring as an Inspector, combined with 28 years of teaching experience at the post-secondary level in Business Administration. He is also the first Canadian to graduate from the Los Angeles Police Leadership Academy (formerly known as the West Point Leadership Academy). He primarily treats first responders for PTSD and trauma exposure and is an approved consultant in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Jess is also an ICISF-approved instructor and supports CISM programs across all three levels of government as well as within the private sector.
The course is sponsored by Andrea Castillo-Perez, a Registered Nurse and Registered Psychotherapist with over 25 years of experience in healthcare. She provides trauma-informed mental health support to individuals and groups, with a particular focus on first responders, front-line professionals, and those impacted by trauma. Andrea is certified in EMDR, is an ICISF Approved Instructor (CCISM). She combines clinical expertise with a compassionate, holistic approach rooted in both medical and psychotherapy principles.
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
1. ASSISTING INDIVIDUALS IN CRISIS
Crisis Intervention is NOT psychotherapy; rather, it is a specialized acute emergency mental health intervention which requires specialized training. As physical first aid is to surgery, crisis intervention is to psychotherapy. Thus, crisis intervention is sometimes called “emotional first aid”. This program is designed to teach participants the fundamentals of, and a specific protocol for, individual crisis intervention.
Program Highlights:
- Psychological crisis and psychological crisis intervention
- Resistance, resiliency, recovery continuum
- Critical incident stress management
- Evidence-based practice
- Basic crisis communication techniques
- Common psychological and behavioural crisis reactions
- Putative and empirically-derived mechanisms
- SAFER-Revised model
- Suicide intervention
- Risks of iatrogenic “harm”
2. GROUP CRISIS INTERVENTION
Designed to present the core elements of a comprehensive, systematic and multi-component crisis intervention curriculum, the Group Crisis Intervention course will prepare participants to understand a wide range of crisis intervention services.
Fundamentals of Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) will be outlined and participants will leave with the knowledge and tools to provide several group crisis
interventions, specifically demobilizations, defusings and the Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD). The need for appropriate follow-up services and referrals when necessary will also be discussed.
Program Highlights:
- Relevant research findings
- Relevant recommendations for practice
- Incident assessment
- Strategic intervention planning
- “Resistance, resilience, recovery” continuum
- Large group crisis interventions
- Small group crisis interventions
- Adverse outcomes associated with crisis intervention
- Reducing risks
- Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD)
HOW TO REGISTER
Please fill out the form below:
Once you complete and send the form, our Office Administrator will be reaching out for payment. Accepted payment methods:
- E-transfer to [email protected] (note “CISM payment” in message)
- Credit card (subject to a 3.3% processing fee). If you wish to pay by credit card, we will contact you to complete the payment.
- Mail cheque to Andrea Castillo-Perez, 2057 Lakeshore Road, Sarnia, Ontario, N7X 1G6
Receipt will be issued after payment.
📞 QUESTIONS? Call us at 226-246-4669 or email us at [email protected]
Register today!
Registration closes September 20, 2025.
Space is limited, and registration is on a first-come, first-served basis.