Live chat with Laura Kennan - June 2010
Below is a transcript of a live chat session held on the LIFE website in June 2010 with Laura Kennan, General Manager of Clinical Support at Crisis Support Services. The topic was ‘telephone counselling and suicide prevention.'
Q: Are there particular groups at risk of suicide who are more likely than others to engage with telephone counselling services, and if so, who are they? Is telephone counselling, for example, popular in rural communities where there are few face-to-face services, and are there groups that fall through the cracks? If so who are they?
A: Many people use telephone counselling for support when they are feeling at risk of suicide. It is particularly beneficial, however, for people who lack services in their area, are on long waiting lists, or who find seeking face-to-face support too confronting. One of the primary benefits of most telephone services are that they are available 24/7 so people can access support after hours when their usual supports are not available. It is also completely anonymous which gives greater confidence to some people in accessing support around suicide, particularly in rural areas where they may be socially linked to the local mental health providers and not feel comfortable accessing support from someone they know at a personal level.
Q: Telephone counselling has often been regarded as not a real form of counselling, that it is too short, too unfocused and of no real benefit. Would you care to comment on this statement in light of your work at Crisis Support Services especially in relation to telephone counselling and working with suicidal callers?
A: There are many benefits of telephone counselling: it is usually free; available 24/7; accessible from anywhere in the country; and available when people need support. This is in contrast to face-to-face services that are: not available in all geographical areas; often have long waitlists; are not usually available after hours for support; and may have costs associated with them. At Crisis Support Services we find that many people benefit from a once off call with a counsellor, particularly when they are in crisis. They are able to access the support they need when they need it (i.e. immediately) and through services such as Suicide Line (Victoria) we are able to work with them to minimise their distress, develop strategies to keep themselves safe and link them in with face-to -face services in their area that they can utilise for ongoing support.
Q: What statistics are available for us to know how successful crisis lines are to preventing suicidal behaviour?
A: At Crisis Support Services we receive thousands of calls each year from people at risk of suicide. In the last financial year, we received over 11,000 calls across all lines from people who are at risk of suicide, concerned about the suicidality of others or bereaved by suicide. This is a good indication that people who are feeling suicidal are accessing support by telephone. We also know that we work with each of the callers who present at risk to keep themselves safe, and by providing 24/7 support we are able to do this when people are in crisis.
Q: Obviously telephone counselling can support people who are isolated and at risk, when they are at crisis point, but what happens beyond the point of crisis, can telephone counselling be more than just crisis counselling?
A: Telephone counselling can support people beyond the point of crisis. Crisis Support Services runs a service called the Suicide Call Back Service which provides people at risk of suicide, carers for someone who is suicidal, and those bereaved by suicide with up to six 50 minute sessions of counselling with the same counsellor over a period of up to six months. This is particularly beneficial for people who are currently unable to access professional support due to long waiting lists, geographical isolation or a lack of services in their area and provides continuity of care for the caller by speaking to the same counsellor each time. To date our statistics on this service have shown that people's risk of suicide has decreased over the duration of their counselling sessions. This service is also available to provide follow up support to professionals working with people at risk of suicide and can assist them in developing strategies in their work with suicidal clients and also provide them with debriefing.
Q: It can be very difficult when a caller has instigated a plan but will not give location details. Do you have any strategies to try to deal with this?
A: This can be a difficult situation. In cases when a caller has a clear plan, access to means and immediate timeframes, and will not disclose their location or work with the counsellor to keep themselves safe, then contacting the police is the best course of action. If the timeframe is not immediate and they have a clear plan and access to means, accessing their personal and professional supports, if known, can also be a good starting point.
Q: Is working on the phone compared to working in person with people who are suicidal vastly different? If so, how?
A: When you are working on the telephone you do not have the usual visual cues that are available to you when working face to face, such as body language and facial expressions. This means that verbal cues, such as tone of voice and the content of what is being said (and not said) become much more important. Overall, however, the strategies we use when working with clients over the phone are very similar to the strategies that would be used in a face-to-face environment.
Q: How do you go about recruiting the right people as telephone counsellors? Overall what are the most important qualities you look for?
A: At Crisis Support Services, we recruit professionally trained counsellors, so qualifications are an essential part of our recruitment criteria. We also need to determine their level of counselling skills which are determined through their years of counselling experience, and also through a demonstration of their counselling skills if they are successful in getting through to the interview stage. Training in suicide risk assessment and the ability to demonstrate this are essential for working at Crisis Support Services. Depending on the service other key areas of experience, such as and understanding of the impact of separation and divorce on men for Mensline Australia, are also important. Given that the majority of our services are 24/7 we also require people who can work a variety of shifts including overnights.
Q: In an age when a lot of communication is now performed online, where do you see the future of telephone counselling going? Do you have any thoughts about how to apply suicide prevention counselling to the internet?
A: I believe that, for the next 50 years or so at least, that the telephone will remain an important tool in accessing support, however an increasing number of services will need to be offered online. There will always be people who prefer to access support face to face and via the telephone, as opposed to online, but Generation Y and following generations are demonstrating that they prefer to communicate online. This means that it is essential when moving forward to develop greater services, such as online counselling and support forums to ensure that people are able to access the support they need. Suicide prevention counselling online would take a very similar format as it does face to face or over the phone but it would be delivered through a different medium. For example, counsellors will continue to work with people to minimise their distress and assist them in developing strategies to keep themselves safe whether it is face to face, online or over the phone.
Q: It's hard to estimate something like suicide prevention because it takes into account what hasn't or doesn't happen. But having said that I'm sure on occasions you get evidence that the work undertaken has achieved valuable things. What are some of the rewarding experiences that counsellors report when working for phone counselling services? And by the same token how distressing can the job be?
A: I think the most rewarding part of being a telephone counsellor is knowing that you were able to provide support to someone when they needed it. Whether it is because it was 3am in the morning when no one else was available to support them or because they like to discuss their problems over the phone. In cases where the caller is at risk of suicide, it is particularly rewarding to know that you have been able to help someone keep safe and provide a pivotal turning point in their lives. It can also be a difficult job and you hear many stories about the different challenges that people face and their struggles to cope, but being there to be able to support them during these times makes it all the more rewarding. At Crisis Support Services we also ensure that all counsellors have access to immediate debriefing and support and ongoing clinical supervision to help them manage difficult calls.
Q: What brought you to work in the telephone counsellor suicide prevention sector? Can you share with us any particular memorable success stories for either yourself or your team?
A: I came to work as a telephone counsellor in the suicide prevention sector after reading an article in the newspaper about the high rate of suicide amongst recently separated men. I was completing my postgraduate studies in psychology and decided that this was an area I wanted to pursue and to be able to make a difference in. It's hard to pinpoint a particular success in my work as each call is as unique and important as the next. Overall, knowing that people can access free 24/7 support from anywhere in Australia whenever they need it, particularly if they are suicidal, and knowing that I am a part of that is what I find really rewarding. This is what motivates me to continue to work in the industry and strive to maintain the highest quality standards in our work here at Crisis Support Services.
- For more information about Crisis Support Services please visit their website.
-
Back to top.