After seeing a series of ads recruiting volunteers to work the phones, I realized I know next to nothing about how these help lines work. I know there’s lots of training- what type? Do you have to go into an office? Is it big or small? Do you ever get the same people phoning? How much personal info do they give you (e.g. real name, occupation)?How long before you burn out?
Not specifically a suicide hotline but I used to staff a couple of different LGBT resource phonelines and would get the occasional suicide call. Once had three in the same day, one right after the other. That was brutal.
Some of your questions (office size and the like) are going to vary by the line. It’s been well over a decade since I last volunteered but the sort of training I got (which wasn’t focused on suicide prevention but had a section on it) was things like active listening, empathy, stuff like that. A little bit on threat and risk assessment (“I feel like killing myself” vs. “I have a bottle of pills in my hand”). In most of my calls they wanted to talk and have someone listen. I seem to recall giving them more specific phone numbers to call for people with more training and access to mental health resources and referrals.
Just did a shift last night! If you had called 1-800-SUICIDE in NJ you would have spoken to me :).
We have other lines that come in, so most calls are not suicidal in nature.
Feel free to ask any other questions. Here are my answers to the questions you asked:
I know there’s lots of training- what type?
I forget how long the training goes for, but it’s kind of like taking a night class at college – one night a week for a couple of months.
There’s training in the work, role playing, and they have representatives from various local agencies come in to give talks (e.g. womens’ shelter, AA, etc.)
Do you have to go into an office?
Yup. These kinds of agencies are very hush-hush about the location. I tell folks I’m in a secret bunker if they ask.
Is it big or small?
Small, but we have cable TV and broadband Internet, so it’s cool.
Do you ever get the same people phoning?
Absolutely. There are many people who make a help line part of their daily life. They use us to bridge the gap between sessions with their counselor.
How much personal info do they give you (e.g. real name, occupation)?
Each person is different. It’s always on a first-name basis. Some folks just don’t give names, while others freely give their name when they call. It’s a trust factor, and often they will give their name at the end of a call and ask for yours. Many workers use aliases for this purpose.
Of course, almost all of the frequent callers are known by name.
How long before you burn out?
I don’t know. I still love the work as much as I did when I started four years ago.
It really depends on your personality. How would you be affected by someone bitterly lamenting how their life is in ruins, and as you listen, you can’t help but agree that their life is truly horrible? Maybe they suffered a terrible accident years ago, or they lost a child tragically. Most calls are not like that, but many volunteers end up letting that kind of thing get to them.
I think many people don’t burn out, since we have plenty of folks who have been doing this for twenty or thirty years.
If it’s right for you (as it is for me), it is very rewarding work. There’s nothing like coming in and finding a message for you that “Joe” or “Sally” called in two days ago to thank you for helping them through a rough night, and that they are OK now.
The hotlines here in Atlanta have no volunteers. When I called to ask, it seemed like an alien concept to them. So I volunteered in hospice.
There seems to be a trend in hotlines to use paid workers these days. It’s a shame IMHO because (warning… sweeping generalization follows) I feel that the average paid phone worker will not have the same passion for their work as the average volunteer phone worker.
Volunteers often do this because of some desire to help, perhaps because suicide or depression has affected them or their family. Paid workers might simply be looking for a paycheck. YMMV, of course.
No, you’re right. It’s very well rooted in social psychology that people whose motivations for a behavior are switched from an internal one to an external one tend to perform more poorly and have lower morale.
Most of this comes from Elliot Aronson and Leon Festinger, if you’re interested in more.
Oh good, I just thought of a few more questions…
Wow, months of training? Is that all before you’ve answered a single call? I understand the need, but does it narrow down the field of volunteers? Is there a ‘type’ of person that commonly volunteers (like, say, retired nurses)?
How many people on staff? Is it like a telemarketing boiler room? Is there much time in between calls? How do calls get directed?
What are the odds of getting the same caller more than once? Can they ask to speak to a specific counselor?
Wow, months of training?
It’s more like a few months of Tuesday evenings.
We then have a few apprenticeship sessions, followed by regular shifts.
It isn’t so odd to expect folks to commit to training like that since folks are expected to sign up for two or more four-hour shifts per month. This involves a time commitment.
How many people on staff? Is it like a telemarketing boiler room? Is there much time in between calls? How do calls get directed?
No, it isn’t a huge boiler room. In fact, we usually work alone.
The call load just isn’t that huge, and it’s quite difficult to fill a monthly schedule with volunteers anyway.
What are the odds of getting the same caller more than once? Can they ask to speak to a specific counselor?
A direct consequence of being a one-person show is that it is very common to get the same caller.
Callers are not allowed to ask for a volunteer by name (they can ask, but it won’t do them any good) – that might invite all kinds of stalking concerns and such. The anonymity and privacy of this work is fiercely defended.
Over a number of years I was a volunteer and eventually became a paid supervisor and trainer for a multi-county crisis line that had plenty of suicides.
**I know there’s lots of training- what type? **
Ours had 2-3 months of 2-3 times per week training sessions. Training used everything from guided listening quasi-hypnotic shit to actually useful scenario training. What I found most effective as a trainee and as a trainer was to sit back to back and simulate calls and whatnot. Train them on voicetone, procedure, that kind of stuff. After the classroom they’d graduate to working the lines with a supervisor sitting next to them, being their wingman. When they were able, they’d go it alone with someone always on call in case shit got really heavy.
**Do you have to go into an office? **
Ours was an actual secret location, believe it or not. It was a donated place in a urban area that had been renovated and hosted several types of telephone related stuff. No signs or anything on the outside, and its was all secure with numberpads and stuff. I guess the theory was they didn’t want someone flipping out and going over to kill the crisis counselors. Pizza dudes probably thought we were the CIA or something.
**Is it big or small? **
Looking back it was a pretty big operation that was mostly volunteer run, 3-4 local and state colleges helped make it work. I’d say 200ish people including the people that might wander in once every couple of months or so.
**Do you ever get the same people phoning? **
Yes, we had a special folder with files on some of the regulars. Some were just nutbags or really lonely people that wanted to talk about the same thing over and over, and we’d have a script we were supposed to repeat after we identified them. Others were pervs looking to sort of talk about whatever it was that got them off. Then sometimes you just had regular people having a bad multi-week crisis.
How much personal info do they give you (e.g. real name, occupation)?
Whatever they wanted as long as it was appropriate. Usually you wouldn’t get much, other times you’d be there awhile listening to them ramble on about anything and everything.
How long before you burn out?
I never did and I did it for years. It was fun for me and a great way to meet people and just to have something to do every now and then when I got bored. I only quit because I graduated and moved away and the local equivalent is a joke without much of a volunteer element. The people involved were generally square social worker types, but they were good folks, and it turned out I was pretty good at it. I miss it.
I did it about 15 years ago for an outfit called The Samaritins. It was purely volunteer, and there was training two evenings a week for six weeks.
There was a small office. I was still working, so I did 12-hour night shifts, all alone in a little cubbyhole of an office. As somebody noted, it was kept a secret as we definitely did not want any callers showing up in person. If they felt they needed person-to-person help, we could refer them to free counseling places.
We had a big Rolodex of referral agencies if necessary.
Got all kinds of callers, many repeaters. The whole thing was to try to keep them talking, not give advice, but try to draw them out.
One eerie type of call was when they would not say anything. We never hung up on these people. Just once every few minutes, we’d say “Let us know if we can help. We are here for as long as you need.” Sometimes they’d eventually talk, other times not.
I’d say the majority of the calls were from those who were not suicidal, but really needed somebody to talk to. It was very important not to give advice (the most difficult part of the whole thing) but to just let them open up. We were told never to say “I know how you feel” which is a turnoff for many. Just to keep expressing sympathy (“that must be awful,” “I’m so sorry,” etc)
The first thing we did have to do, which seems hard to some at first, but is very important, is to ask if they are really thinking of taking their lives. If they say yes, then we would ask if the had the means at hands (gun, poison, etc). If yes, we’d encourage them to call a family member or call 911, or let us call, but if they refused, we were forbidden to call for them. We’d assure them we would never call the police or paramedics unless they gave us permission, otherwise they’d never all us again.
We only gave our first name, real or improvised. We’d always ask their name, but if they did not want to give it, no problem.
We had to keep a detailed report of each call, time, and name of caller if they gave it, and what was said.
Some volunteers did have a caller kill themselves while online. The reports, which we had to read, alays noted that they just wanted to talk to a human while they did the deed. Horribly sad. Thank God that never happened to me.
Others reported later than calling did dissuade them from suicide, and some sought help.
I did this once a week for a little more than a year, then it became just too damn depressing for me to continue. We did have quite a large attrition rate for the same reason.
Strangely enough, I think if I got more calls from people really contemplating suicide, rather than the emotionally or psychologically distressed, I would have lasted longer.
It was very rewarding, however.