Crisis_Connection

We never put people on hold. Ever.

The only thing we will ever do is put them on mute so that they can't hear what we're saying. We will always tell them this. Something along these lines, "I'm going to talk to my supervisor really quick to see if we can find some resources that can help you out. I am putting you on mute so that you do not have to listen to us, but I will always be able to hear you. Please let me know if you need to talk to me right away." And then hit the button.

We will never hang up or put someone on hold if they are in an emergency. I'm so sorry about what happened to your friend.

We had so many calls last night. We had double the amount of volunteers for a while and still had people waiting. We don't put people on hold, but if you call and all the counselors are already on calls, you'll have to wait.

We had a large influx of people that were

a. Calling just to see what the line was like, or about.

b. now calling in because Robin Williams gave them the courage to reach out for help.

and C. Calling to tell us that they appreciate us.

As for your other question, we have some people that call in every day, on the dot, same time. We usually recognize them and limit the time that they are allowed to talk with us, as they are doing it for social anchoring and are not currently having an emergency. We treat them with the same respect as everyone else though :)

I'm so sorry that happened to you. I can imagine the situation you might have been in to have to pick up the phone, only to hear that someone on the other line may die. The first thing you want to do is try to understand what they're saying. Listen to them talk. The first chance you can get, you should try to tell them politely that they've reached someone's private cell phone.

If it happens to you often, I think the absolute best thing you can do is to carry the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline's number on you, so that you can give it to that person. The number is 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

Otherwise, if you're up for it, I'd say go for some training and maybe you can help someone yourself :)

Hey, you're welcome. Thank you for your appreciation.

1. I am a psychology undergrad, and I'm looking to get into a clinical psychology profession. I felt that volunteering for this position would be a great way to work with people in the profession, and give me experience working with people in a setting like this. To be honest, it was rather a selfish reason to volunteer, but since then it has blossomed to a more sincere care for the people on the lines, especially as I begin to understand the positions that many people are in.

2. I wouldn't say that everyone is able to emotionally detach themselves fully. Like I said in my response to /u/happylittletrees19, we are trained to use self-care and to decompress after calls. If we were able to detach emotionally it wouldn't be the best, since we wouldn't be able to empathize with the people on call. We are encouraged to debrief and talk through our feelings with supervisors. As for affecting my personal life, I would say that there have been a call or two that I have spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about, but typically I can talk it out with my supervisor and feel better. Lastly, I live a decent ways away from the center itself, and I feel that a nice long drive home can definitely help separate my personal life from the volunteer center.

Thank you for your question. :)