The crisis stabilisation and return response (CS-Return): Historical antecedents and an integrative framework
- Dec 15, 2025
- 1 min read
Theoretical and Conceptual Paper · Open Access
Dzmitry Karpuk, Celia Dawson
Complex Trauma Institute, United Kingdom
Corresponding author: Dzmitry Karpuk, info@complextraumainstitute.org
Perspectives on Complex Trauma, Volume 6, Issue 1 (2025)
Published: December 2025
Abstract
After serious incidents, some people experience significant disruption in safety, regulation, relationships, practical resources and ordinary roles while diagnosis remains uncertain and specialist trauma treatment may not yet be indicated. This conceptual paper presents the crisis stabilisation and return response (CS-Return), a brief, integrated qualified clinical early-response intervention for this level of disruption. It is intended when ordinary organisational support or Psychological First Aid is insufficient, while urgent and disorder-specific care remain available when indicated. CS-Return operates through three recurrent clinical operations—clinical triage and functional formulation, integrated clinical intervention, and real-life functional review with clinical re-triage—supported by six practitioner competencies. Stabilisation, continuation or return, and coordination are integrated rather than sequential. Each session generates a real-life action; where further work is required, change between sessions informs the next cycle. The intervention emerged from Complex Trauma Institute (CTI) training and practice from 2019, building on Embodied Reprocessing and fourth-generation stabilisation and fifth-generation functional-return principles. Its complete configuration requires prospective evaluation.
Keywords: serious incidents; crisis intervention; stabilisation; functional recovery; reintegration; CS-Return
Cite this article
Karpuk, D., & Dawson, C. (2025). The crisis stabilisation and return response (CS-Return): Historical antecedents and an integrative framework. Perspectives on Complex Trauma, 6(1). https://www.complextraumainstitute.org/post/the-crisis-stabilisation-and-return-response-cs-return-historical-antecedents-and-an-integrative
Copyright and licence
© 2025 The Author(s).
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
Published by the Complex Trauma Institute.
ISSN 2635-0807