Engaging Suicidal Callers:

Establishing Good Contact and Interventions

Marshall Knudson, Ph.D

Heather Stokes, LCSW

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

666 Broadway, Suite 200

(212) 614-5703

hstokes@mhaofnyc.org

When a person calls the NSPL, it is vital that the telephone worker create a safe and trusting space for the caller to share their thoughts thus allowing for discussion around intervention The value of engaging a caller and establishing good contact (empathy, understanding) is tri-fold:

1.  the telephone worker can provide support thereby eliminating (even if it is momentarily) the caller's sense of isolation

2.  the telephone worker can create a space for the caller to share thoughts of suicide and reasons leading to thoughts of suicide

3.  the telephone worker can save a life!

This workshop will address research findings supporting the concept fo good contact.  We will discuss the nature of establishing good contact via the telephone and collaborating with the suicidal caller in the development and implementation of an intervention that keeps the caller from attempting suicide.

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