Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Chaplaincy studies lesson 8


 
I am not a chaplain but I may have experience in two positions that seem relevant to this week's lesson.  

I worked on my community's crisis hotline in two capacities; I was on the phone with callers and I served on the board of directors in charge of seeing that our "listeners" received regular training updates and continuing education.

As a listener I had but a precious few minutes to develop trust and rapport with a caller in crisis. Doing so requires certain skills that cannot be learned by reading or listening to a lecture. What works for one individual may not work for another. A few carefully selected words spoken in kindness at the appropriate time can melt any icy block standing in the way of a meaningful conversation. A listener learns what works through their own experience and develops an intuition.  

As a member of the board I naturally had to learn the rules. I had to gain the trust of the other members and with the other listeners.  

As for confidentiality. I lived and worked in a duty to report state. Because callers were anonymous (pre cellphone/caller ID days) If a caller revealed a serious possibility of being a danger to themselves or others (especially minors) I then had to work at getting the caller to reveal their identity and/or location. Fortunately for all of my hours on the phone cases like these were few and far between. I found it best to explain the duty to report up front with the caller. I encouraged other listeners to do the same.  



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