Book Description

This book will further stimulate interest and discussion of the telephone and the Internet as a mode of treatment. In this extensively revised third edition, a practical framework for providing immediate problem-solving assistance by telephone to persons in crisis is provided. Several new chapters have been added and several chapters have been updated and rewritten. The text offers specific techniques to deal with out-of-control situations with the highly important initial steps to protect the caller, the crisis worker, and the community. The scope of the book includes an overview of counseling by telephone, how to effectively manage crises, how to be supportive verbally and nonverbally, how to accurately assess situations, and how to help create a sense of stability. Part I discusses the varieties of telephone services, while Part II covers crisis intervention and counseling, including telephone therapy, active listening, cognitive therapy approaches, transactional analysis and learned helplessness approaches, as well as Gestalt therapy approaches. Part III discusses a variety of problem callers: the obscene caller, the chronic caller, the silent caller, the nuisance caller, and the “one counselor” caller. A new section, Part IV—Special Topics, includes valuable information on dealing with adolescents, war veterans, rural communities, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities on campus. Part V offers a look at contact beyond the telephone, including crisis intervention by e-mail and letter. Part VI views the roles of telephone counselors, such as the mental health professional, the nonprofessional crisis worker, selecting telephone counselors, and training crisis workers. Finally, Part VII summarizes and evaluates today’s telephone counseling services. This unique and up-to-date book serves as a comprehensive tool for those setting up telephone and Internet counseling services and those in charge of centers already operating, especially in training and supervising those on the front lines, the crisis interveners.