I guess it comes down to one's definition of crisis, but I think crisis appointments can have their place especially among clents who currently lack a strong support network of their own.

When I was sui, I went to ER and was placed in IP. That's one type of crisis where going to an appointment probably would not have helped much. I had a terrible experience at the hospital but it did keep me alive. I'm not sure a "crisis" appointment would have been at all helpful.

On the other hand, when my apartment burnt down, I was in a different type of crisis, not an SH crisis, of being in extreme distress with no relatives or friends around to privide support. I asked for a crisis appointment-- my T never had experienced what I was going through but was there for me to talk at and rage at and weigh my options at, which is what I needed. In addition to our appointments she called me daily. The ER would not have helped, but without the extra support from T I think I WOULD have ended up in what your T calls "a *real* crisis." If I had a robust support network of my own, though, it's true that I probably wouldn't have needed the crisis appointment at all.