Citation

Brockopp GW. Crisis Interv. 1970; 2(3): 73-74.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1970, Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

It is very important when working on the telephone at a suicide crisis center which is designed to be more than an information or referral unit to sharply differentiate between the conversational telephone call and the therapeutic one. Although the training program may emphasize the need for a therapeutic engagement between the caller and the telephone therapist, individuals very easily move back into the former habit pattern of using the telephone as a means to obtain a conversational relationship based on the interaction of the two personalities. As a result the therapeutic process is minimized, distorted, or possibly even eliminated entirely. This is especially true when working on a chronic call or a call from an individual with whom the telephone therapist has talked previously. In a center which has the implied assumption (on the part of the patient) of being a therapeutic unit, such as a suicide and crisis service, a conversational telephone call with a patient is worse than none at all for it sets up certain expectations on the part of the patient regarding the relationship. ...

Language: en