Objective: To explore an effective model of psychological intervention to SARS patients Method:680 SARS inpatients were divided into experimental (n=483) group and control group Three interventions were provided to the patients once a day for one week, including hotline counseling (active versus passive), counseling through paper and pencil, and face-to-face crisis intervention (medical staff versus psychotherapists) SCL-90 and a self-designed assessing scale were administered to both groups when check in and before discharge to evaluate the effect of the interventions Result:SCL-90 assessing showed that patients had significantly higher score than local people, but the two groups had no significant difference at check-in This situation changed before discharge, the intervention group had significantly lower scores in many factors than control except for phobia, paranoia and psychotic Comparing different ways of intervention, the most effective one was active hotline counseling (effective rate 95 7%), the effective rate of face-to-face intervention was 80% for both medical staff after training and psychotherapists The paper-pencil method was the most ineffective (the rate was only 19 5%) Education had influence on the outcome of intervention, those patients with higher education had better results in hotline counseling and paper-pencil counseling Conclusion:Psychological crisis intervention is effective in patients infected by SARS Active hotline counseling is the most effective way