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Abstract
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As was emphasized previously, the caller who uses any verbal aspect of sexuality in his relationship with the telephone therapist usually puts the helping person at a distinct disadvantage because of his "uptightness" in this area. The tendency to blame, moralize or punish the caller is immediate and the super-ego-pat-on-the-back that we receive when we do these things helps to assuage any feelings of guilt which we may have.
The information contained in a previous article by Lester can be very useful in dealing with this type of difficult call. To place this information in perspective, I feel two points need to be emphasized. (1) There is very little basis for assuming that the obscene caller and the exhibitionist are similar enough that a treatment programs which works with one will work with the other and (2) It is much easier to obtain legal sanctions and treatment for the exhibitionist than for the obscene caller. I also feel that it is important to emphasize that a call to a telephone therapy service differs from a call to the general public. It follows that a center should also differ from the public both in the way they respond to these individuals and in the kind of help that they try to obtain for them. If, for example, a center attempts to trace every obscene caller to obtain legal sanctions against them, it is questionable whether they will continue to receive calls from individuals with other types of difficulties for the word will quickly spread throughout the area that a call to the telephone service that is not made in a way which is appropriate to the accepted standards of behavior in the community will result in an individual's incarceration. If necessary, even at the price of not getting a person into therapy, the integrity of the telephone service as a place where individuals can call with any type of problem and receive interested, concerned and therapeutically appropriate response must be maintained...
Keywords: Suicide
Language: en |