A growing body of research indicates that telephone counselling can reduce suicide risk among callers. Services that provide counsellors who are empathic, supportive, who work together with callers to solve problems, and treat callers with respect have been found to significantly reduce suicidality among callers (Mishara et al., 2007). More recent evidence suggests that people who contact suicide help lines continue to experience improvement during the weeks following a telephone counselling session (Gould, Kalafat, Harris-Munfakh, & Kleinman, 2007).
SuicideLine draws on best practice in the field of crisis telephone counselling. All counsellors who work on the line have recognised qualifications in the disciplines of psychology, social work or counselling in addition to receiving 16 hours training regarding the SuicideLine counselling model.
The SuicideLine counselling model focuses on:
- developing strong rapport with callers
- conducting thorough and ongoing suicide risk assessment
- ensuring callers immediate safety
- the development of safety plans
- empowerment and goal setting
References
Gould, M. S., Kalafat, J., Harris-Munfakh, J. L., & Kleinman, M. (2007). An evaluation of crisis hotline outcomes. Part 2: Suicidal Callers. Suicide and Life Threatening Behaviour, 37(3), 338-352.
Mishara, B. L., Chagnon, F., Daigle, M., Balan, B., Raymond, S., Marcoux, I., et al. (2007). Which helper behaviours and intervention styles are related to better short term outcomes in telephone crisis intervention? Results from a silent monitoring study of calls to the U.S. 1-800-SUICIDE network. Suicide and Life Threatening Behaviour, 37(3), 308.