Talking with the Caller: Guidelines for Crisisline and Other Volunteer Counselors. - Review - book review

Adolescence, Winter, 2000

MILLMAN, Jason, STRIKE, Diane Maijala, SOEST, Marian Van, ROSEN, Nancy, & SCHMIDT, Ellen. Talking with the Caller: Guidelines for Crisisline and Other Volunteer Counselors. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998. 96pp. $39.95 (h).

This hands-on guide provides information to volunteers who staff crisis hotlines, information, or telephone referral services. Created with an easy-to-use format, Talking with the Caller has been successfully tested to provide volunteers with immediate access to information, enabling them to effectively handle callers. Providing an introduction to the art of interacting with crisisline callers, this book provides a conceptual framework for understanding the purpose of crisislines, their strengths and limitations, and the role of volunteers. It is divided into three major sections. Part 1 focuses on problems requiring immediate intervention, such as threat of suicide, imminent threat to life, potential for lethal accident, recent abuse, injury, or panic attack. Part 2 addresses ongoing problems, which include depression, anger, eating disorders, grief, substance abuse, family relationship issues, sex-related concerns, and work issues. Part 3 includes information on handling other calls, such as second-party ca lls, silent calls, or callers asking for special information. Within each section, the topic features a description of possible scenarios, what approach works best, do's and don'ts for the particular problem, and any other special information pertinent to the situation.