SETTING UP A COUNSELLING SERVICE FOR PARENTS,INFANTS AND YOUNG CHILDREN

In this paper a brief model of working psychotherapeutically with children under 5 years of age and parents is explored. The psychoanalytic principles that guide the work are looked at and the practical aspects of setting up a service within NHS clinics is considered. The authors trace the history of this model, its aims, technique and the use of telephone counselling for parents. They discuss referrals, the setting, the structure and content of this counselling using clinical vignettes.     

A counselling service for nurses in training

An account is given of the inception and development of a counselling service for nurses in training at a large London teaching hospital. The aims of the service are described, as are the evolving role of the counsellor and the use made of the service both by student nurses and other members of the hospital organisation. Some recommendations are made concerning the future development of counselling services within National Health Service hospitals.     

Telephone counselling for adolescent suicide prevention: changes in suicidality and mental state from beginning to end of a counselling session

Telephone counselling is an accessible and confidential means by which distressed young people can seek help. Telephone counselling services were funded under Australia's National Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy between 1997 and 2000. In this study, the effectiveness of telephone counselling for young people seeking help in the context of suicidal ideation or intent was evaluated in an investigation of calls made by suicidal young people to a telephone counselling service. Independent raters measured callers' suicidality and mental state at the beginning and end of 100 taped counselling sessions. Changes in suicidality and mental state were measured using a reliable rating scale developed for the study. Significant decreases in suicidality and significant improvement in mental state were found to occur during the course of counselling sessions, suggesting positive immediate impact. Limitations of the study with respect to longer-term outcomes and the relevance of the results for suicide prevention are discussed. Notwithstanding the study limitations, the results lend support for continuing development of hotline services.     

A Survey of Telephone Answering Services in Suicide Prevention and Crisis Intervention Agencies*

ABSTRACT: The telephone service established by directors of suicide prevention and crisis intervention services is generally given little careful consideration. Many agencies take their telephone systems for granted, assuming that almost any system will function adequately if an operator is available and a crisis worker is on call. There are a number of important issues at stake that should be carefully considered before a program is established that uses any system other than full-time coverage by the trained crisis worker at a permanent location. In order to investigate just what really happens under the various systems in use, a series of 76 calls was placed to 19 different emergency crisis services in the southeastern United States. Times were recorded to show how much time elapsed, through what various systems, to get an actual crisis worker on the line. There were marked differences across the eight different systems identified. The results clearly indicate that crisis services are in danger of unknowingly providing inferior and dangerously low quality service unless they maintain maximum control over their own telephone answering system 24 hours a day.     

What Young People Want: A Qualitative Study of Adolescents’ Priorities for Engagement Across Psychological Services

This article examined commonalities in adolescents’ priorities for engagement with psychological support in the context of contemporary youth culture in New Zealand. These were explored across a range of different services including a face-to-face hospital-based mental health service, a face-to-face school-based counseling service, a telephone counseling service and a new form of counseling using mobile phone text. Interviews were conducted with 63 young people aged 13–18 who had used at least one of these services. A thematic analysis identified that there were common priorities for participants across the different services including their need to keep control; not to have their parents involved; to have a relationship with a counselor which was more like a friendship than a professional relationship; to talk freely and be listened to; and to have the service be accessible and flexible enough to fit around their lives. Text and telephone counseling were seen to be particularly appropriate for meeting some of these needs. Professionals working with young people should consider offering a suite of options for psychological support, allowing young people to balance their different needs and priorities and thus facilitate their engagement.     

Evaluating Genetic Counseling: Client Expectations,Psychological Adjustment and Satisfaction with Service

Periodic evaluations of genetic counseling services are useful for determining the effectiveness of counseling in meetings its psycho-educational aims, as well as identifying where improvements to the service may be made. This study aimed to evaluate the genetic counseling services provided by Genetic Services of Western Australia (GSWA) to determine the impact of counseling on client expectations, satisfaction with the service, and psychological adjustment, defined as wellbeing and perceived personal control (PPC). A total of 122 clients participated in a self-administered survey conducted pre- and post-counseling. Client expectations of the service as a means of providing information were met, and opportunities for counselors to meet client’s expectations of psychological support were identified. Furthermore, counseling was found to maintain and enhance psychological wellbeing of clients. The role of counseling in facilitating the development of PPC was a key contributor to a high sense of satisfaction in clients.     

Brief report: preliminary results of a suicide awareness mass media campaign in Cuyahoga County, Ohio

Little information is currently available concerning the effects of suicide awareness and prevention campaigns. This brief report provides preliminary information about the influence of such a media campaign on the number of suicide-related telephone calls to an emergency mental health service in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Examination of the pattern of calls before, during, and between phases of the campaign suggests that the media campaign significantly increased telephone calls to the emergency service. We provide this information to catalyze similar sharing of data and experiences among those organizations and agencies working to prevent suicide.     

A counselling group for adolescents

This paper outlines the aims and objectives of a group for young adolescents set up by two counsellors in an area youth counselling service. It examines the contract made between the counsellors and the group members, the methods used, and some current areas of conflict and potential growth.     

'Let your fingers do the walking': the use of telephone helplines in career information and guidance

The UK Learndirect helpline, launched in February 1998, is the largest telephone helpline service in the guidance field so far developed in the world. By the end of 2000 it had responded to 2.4 million calls. The development of the helpline is placed in the context of the transformations in service delivery in other sectors, including the growth of callcentres and helplines. The use of the telephone in career guidance, both in the UK and elsewhere, is reviewed. The evolution of Learndirect is described, with particular attention to its policy context. The current operation of the service is outlined, including its extent, availability, staffing and users. Finally, a number of issues illuminated by the experiences of Learndirect are identified, including the place of in-depth guidance within helpline services, their relationship to wider guidance provision, their impartiality, their framing in relation to national/local, adult/all-age and learning/career dimensions, the synergy of helplines with other forms of technically mediated service delivery, and the implications of helpline work for the professional development of guidance staff.     

Phone coaching in Dialectical Behavior Therapy: frequency and relationship to client variables

Telephone coaching is a treatment mode in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) that is designed to help clients generalize skills, prevent suicidal behaviors, and repair therapeutic ruptures. To date, phone coaching has received scant empirical investigation. The aims of this study were to (1) describe patterns in frequency of telephone calls and text messaging in DBT and (2) investigate whether demographic factors, baseline severity, suicidal behaviors, and therapeutic alliance are associated with phone and text frequency. Participants were 51 adults (35 treatment completers) with borderline personality disorder (BPD) in a six-month comprehensive DBT treatment program. Phone coaching frequency was documented by therapist weekly session notes. The average number of contacts per month was 2.55 (SD = 4.49). Four of the 35 treatment completers comprised 56% of the contacts. Having a recent history of suicidal behaviors, degree of severity at baseline, or the strength of the therapeutic alliance was not associated with phone coaching use. However, lower income was significantly associated with a higher frequency of phone coaching use. These preliminary results can help clinicians and administrators make informed decisions on how to better provide phone coaching and clarify the degree of effort involved in providing this service to clients with BPD.     

An evaluation of the effectiveness of a telephone counseling center

Three-thousand questionnaires were distributed to students on campus to identify a sample of actual telephone counseling center users and their ratings of the effectiveness of the help received and of the counselor. Ratings of help received and impact of counseling on life as it is today were considered for sex of caller and counselor across type of problem. A sample of 66 actual callers was identified who had used the service for personal problems at least once. Of male callers, 67% reported that telephone counseling helped at least somewhat, while 80% of female callers reported favorable results of telephone counseling. Female callers who talked with male counselors reported a significantly greater impact on their life than did the callers in any other caller/counselor sex interaction. Only one average rating of counseling effectiveness by problem type fell below the neutral rating. Results are presented as evidence for the effectiveness of paraprofessional counselors.     

A student-operated crisis center

In this article we describe an attempt to meet a university community's needs for emergency mental health services through the establishment of a student-operated telephone emergency service. The service provides an interesting model for use of nonprofessionals in mental health services, in which the professional functions primarily as a trainer and consultant rather than offering direct services. We describe the structure of the center and then discuss further innovations and projects.     

Counselors in Private Practice: A Survey Report

A questionnaire was mailed to every marriage counselor, child guidance specialist, and psychologist listed in the yellow pages of Florida telephone directories. The replies were used to describe the profession of private practice counseling. Sixty-seven percent of the sample replied. It was found that several professions offer counseling as a service, but there is not yet an established profession of private practice counseling.     

Television public service announcements as outreach for potential clients

Public service announcements (PSAs) aired by local radio or television stations may be useful to human service agencies as a mechanism to reach potential clients during periods of low service demand. To examine the usefulness of PSAs for this purpose, a series of PSAs were videotaped for three aging-service agencies and aired by a television station during a 6-week period. The three agencies recorded the incoming demand for services received each day before and during the intervention period. The data were tested by a multiple-group interrupted time-series analysis. The results of the analysis indicated that for all three agencies the PSAs were effective for increasing the number of service inquiries received from nonclients over the telephone numbers publicized in the PSAs. At one of the agencies, the number of new clients increased significantly when the PSAs were broadcasted. This article is based on a doctoral dissertation submitted by the first author to the University of South Carolina. The first author acknowledges with appreciation the contributions to the research project and the preparation of the public service announcements that were made by the following: Robert V. Heckel, Gary L. Griepentrog, Lawrence F. McClure, and A. Porter McLaurin, members of the dissertation committee; Melinda Hotinger, research assistant; Ruth Harden and Bobby Dicks, Jr., WIS-TV; Winston Thomas, Rosalyn Dublin, Mary Fraser, Bessie Lee Harris, and Ruthie Saunders, Columbia Urban League Aging Program; Emily Canine, Kate Forbis, Lillie G. Earl, Beverly W. Williams, Annie Baxter, and Marjorie Mills, Newberry County Council on Aging; Fletcher Spigner, Sam Waldrep, Mae Inman, King Wingate, and June Yarborough, Richland-Lexington Council on Aging; George M. Dick, Nancy Rampey, and Betty Jackson, Central Midlands Regional Planning Council; Courtenay Carson, South Carolina Commission on Aging; the late Don Gillis, Mark Spagnolo, and Sally Battle, University of South Carolina Department of Media Arts. The authors acknowledge the substantial contributions to this paper that were made by Gary L. Griepentrog, who donated his time to guide the multiple-group interrupted time-series analysis. The authors express appreciation to Thomas D. Cook, Northwestern University, for his review and comments on the dissertation.     

Teen Line: a descriptive analysis of a peer telephone listening service

Teen Line is a peer telephone listening service for adolescents. During its first year of operation, 2,270 phone calls were received. After an initial novelty effect, counts document a consistent level of use of the service. Two-thirds of the callers were female. Although 4% of topics discussed dealt with crisis situations (suicide, physical abuse), 96% were concerned with common, less urgent adolescent issues, such as peer relationships, family dynamics, and the need to have someone "just to talk to." This paper presents a model for an adolescent listening service and provides data garnered over a year's utilization. Consistent use documents its acceptance as a source of information for teenagers.     

Testing specific cognitive abilities by telephone and mail

The two goals of this research were to develop a brief battery of tests of specific cognitive abilities that can be administered via telephone to adolescents and to assess the psychometric properties of the battery. In a sample of 212 adolescents from 10 to 15 years of age, factor analyses supported the hypothesized structure of verbal, spatial, perceptual speed, and memory abilities, with three tests intended to mark each factor. For a subsample of 62 subjects, retest correlations were .81, .73, .82, and .57, respectively, for the four specific cognitive abilities; scores from telephone testing and face-to-face testing correlated near the reliabilities of the telephone tests. Recommendations are made for shortening the 60-min battery to 35 min by using only two tests to mark each factor.     

Black‐White Differences in Tipping of Various Service Providers1

Data from a national telephone survey revealed 4 general patterns in the tipping behaviors of Blacks and Whites. First, Blacks appear more likely than Whites to stiff commonly encountered service providers, but not less commonly encountered ones. Second, Blacks appear more likely than Whites to leave flat tip amounts to service providers who are commonly tipped a percentage of the bill, but not to service providers who are more rarely tipped a percentage of the bill. Third, Black percentage tippers leave a smaller average percentage of the bill than do White percentage tippers across many service contexts. Finally, Black flat tippers leave larger average dollar tips than do White flat tippers across many service contexts. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed briefly.     

Anatomy of a campus crisis center

This article describes the organization and implementation of a crisis calling center for college students at Southern Colorado State College. The “Help Anonymous” telephone service was established in November of 1968 to make counseling help readily available to students in distress. Volunteers staffed the service after they had completed special training supervised by professional personnel. Calls received as of May 28, 1969, totalled 380. Problem areas mentioned most frequently by callers included dating, family, college classes, loneliness, and lack of information. Help Anonymous thus far has evolved three functions: a listening service, an information service, and a referral service. In addition, the program has revealed unusual potential for a variety of future applications within the college community.     

Consumer Perception and Evaluation of Waiting Time: A Field Experiment

We varied telephone waiting times for a commercial service in 2 different experiments. In the 1st experiment, the telephone rate was either 0 or fixed at Dfl 1 (approximately $0.40) per minute. Consumer perceptions of waiting times could be described best by a psychophysical power function. Furthermore, wait evaluations were mainly influenced by the difference between the consumers’ acceptable and perceived waiting times. The negative effect of perceived waiting time on wait evaluations was increased by the monetary costs of waiting. In the 2nd experiment, the waiting times were filled in different ways: with music, queuing information, and information about expected waiting time. Information about the expected waiting time significantly reduced the overestimation of waiting time, although it increased the negative effect of perceived waiting time on wait evaluations.