Page:What is Crisis.pdf/14

Characteristics of a Repeat Caller

• Caller has persistent, even chronic problems.
• Caller has many problems.
• Caller may be mentally ill or have protracted psychiatric difficulties.
• Caller may experience confusion about what the “presenting problem” is.
• Caller may not know or will express in vague terms the precipitating event.
• Caller may be in a state of anxiety, low or high.
• Caller may talk nonstop, or the counselor may feel as if s/he is “pulling teeth”
• Counselor may feel as if he or she is working harder than the caller is.
• Caller may shift responsibility to the counselor.
• Caller may ask for advice.
• Caller may ask the counselor to self-disclose.
• Caller may say, “Yes, … but, …” to many of the counselor’s responses or suggestions. The caller may have difficulty in receiving help.
• Counselor may find it difficult to end the call.
• The termination of the call may lack a clear plan of action.
• Counselor may feel as though reflective listening does not seem effective.
• Counselor may feel frustrated or confused.
• Caller may become manipulative, or may escalate “symptoms” in order to keep the counselor on the phone.

What’s a Counselor to Do?

While we uniformly offer the core conditions of counseling to each caller, we might also handle these difficult calls with more specialized types of responses that are unique to a caller who may be “stuck” in a cycle of chronic problems. With the many stages in a call, keep these sample responses and ideas in mind as you attempt to identify/clarify the presenting problem, assess the situation, set limits, refer to other resources, reframe, intervene, and terminate the call.

Identifying the Problem

• “What prompted you to call today?”
• “How can I be helpful to you today during our conversation?”
• “What specifically is troubling you?”
• “When you thought about calling the Crisis Center, what was your hope about how the Center could be helpful?”
• “What issue would you like to discuss today?”
• “Of all the things that you’ve mentioned, which is one that we could talk about today?”

Assessing the Situation

• “What have you done about your problem since the last time you called the Center?”
• “Who else might you be able to talk with about your problem (counselor, therapist, doctor)?”
• “How is your therapy proceeding?”