Crisis Hotline
I believe you need to have a strong heart and spirit in order to put yourself in the situations required of a crisis hotline volunteer. I believe things could happen on the phone that could be devastating for you emotionally. So, I think it is important to make sure your need to help others isn't an unhealthy need.
After doing some research and contacting one of the local Crisis Hotline (Crisis Clinic) here in Seattle, WA King County area. I have found that in order to volunteer you will need to do the following; participate in a multi-stage application process, including submitting an application and pre-registering to attend an orientation and screening session, and make an appointment to meet with the center director or head volunteer to discuss dynamics of being a volunteer in this specific setting. Upon successful completion of the following you should be able to start training. The Crisis hotline I looked into only offer 5 phone worker trainings per calendar year, but this could vary depending on your area and crisis hotline you choose to volunteer for. Training needed for volunteering for the Crisis Clinic involves; dealing with difference/grief & loss, crisis intervention/suicide, addictive behavior, mental health training, resource & logging, recovery, 3 practice sessions, and simulate phone room training. Upon completing the above successfully you would graduate and move on to become a volunteer. The Crisis Clinic also has optional training they offer in addition to the above. Again I believe this training too will vary depending on the type of crisis hotline you choose to volunteer for (crisis clinic, 2013).
With that said, I think volunteering at a crisis hotline center would be an amazing experience as well as an important job. I believe through training and patience, you will be able to help callers through very difficult situations and hopefully help set them back on course and even save some lives. I would love to have the opportunity
After doing some research and contacting one of the local Crisis Hotline (Crisis Clinic) here in Seattle, WA King County area. I have found that in order to volunteer you will need to do the following; participate in a multi-stage application process, including submitting an application and pre-registering to attend an orientation and screening session, and make an appointment to meet with the center director or head volunteer to discuss dynamics of being a volunteer in this specific setting. Upon successful completion of the following you should be able to start training. The Crisis hotline I looked into only offer 5 phone worker trainings per calendar year, but this could vary depending on your area and crisis hotline you choose to volunteer for. Training needed for volunteering for the Crisis Clinic involves; dealing with difference/grief & loss, crisis intervention/suicide, addictive behavior, mental health training, resource & logging, recovery, 3 practice sessions, and simulate phone room training. Upon completing the above successfully you would graduate and move on to become a volunteer. The Crisis Clinic also has optional training they offer in addition to the above. Again I believe this training too will vary depending on the type of crisis hotline you choose to volunteer for (crisis clinic, 2013).
With that said, I think volunteering at a crisis hotline center would be an amazing experience as well as an important job. I believe through training and patience, you will be able to help callers through very difficult situations and hopefully help set them back on course and even save some lives. I would love to have the opportunity