Connections in Crisis: THE POWER OF EMPATHY
Paul Carroll, Crisis Trainer
Theresa Tobey, Executive Director
CONTACT 2-1-1 of Burlington County NJ
PO Box 333
Moorestown, NJ 08057
Office: 856-234-5484
The point of hopelessness reached by suicidal callers usually is evident, to them and to us. Those of us who work in crisis intervention understand the importance of risk assessment and the key it provides in evaluating suicidal probability. The element we attempt to use to our advantage in working with a suicidal caller is their ambivalence, typically indicated by the call itself made to a crisis center. The suicidal caller is at a decision point, expressing one choice to us verbally and the other by their presence on the crisis line.
What happens as we seek to "help" this person in crisis? Do we meet them at their crossroad, acknowledging the magnitude of their pain? Or, do we attempt to move them quickly to our roadside area of safety, only to have them return to the crossroad as soon as our backs are turned?
In this workshop, we will focus on how empathy is the skill to acknowledge the aloneness that the caller is experiencing and to understand their reasons for dying-- what makes this moment "different." Empathy accepts the perception of their reason to choose death, but recognizes that this person has made many "choose life" decisions up to this point. Empathy is the connection which obliges us to consider the reasons for dying before we can explore the reasons for living.
The skill of empathy is fundamental in the process of risk assessment. This workshop explores why it is so often overlooked in our haste to move the caller to "safety." Empathyconnects us to the caller and that connection creates the trust environment essential for the caller to make a life choice decision.
Empathy empowers and strengthens the caller in crisis, allowing a supportive and cooperative reframing of the final solution of death to the hope of a desire to find relief in life. This workshop is designed to examine and enhance the connection of empathy with the caller in crisis.
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