I tend to think of it more like, what role does therapy play in crisis? I believe therapy at those times would do the opposite of trying to add to a crisis. The therapy would be supportive during a crisis, and also practically-focused, with the T being more directive, giving advice, helping to troubleshoot problems, being more action-oriented, etc. Like when someone's home burns down, they are evicted, they were in a tornado, their spouse suddenly left them, a death of a loved one occurred, they are in danger of being harmed by others (or themselves), etc.

There is also the more existential type of crisis (what meaning does my life have?), and I don't think a T would try to create that, but might encourage discussion and exploration of topics that could lead the client to ask and answer that question, find meaning, etc. I think it could even be possible a T wouldn't know a client was going through one of these more internal crises, but if a client said "crisis" to a T, I would sure hope they would perk up, listen, and swing into action, even if that action was just openness and a willingness to listen and follow the client where he/she needed to go, which might be very, very deep.

There are times that clients get very emotionally dysregulated and can't get out of that. Working on skills in therapy like the classic "learning to sit with one's feelings" can be helpful in this type of crisis of emotions. So again, I think the T would try to help, but in different ways depending on what type of crisis it was.