In our world today, we are placing increasing emphasis on telecommuting, telecommunications, tele-you name it. Physicians, psychiatrists and other health care providers are using telecommunications with increasing frequency. Mental health counselors and therapists are providing therapy online and on the phone. Whatever happened to the “personal touch”? As we are reacting to, or leading what does our future look like regarding crisis intervention over the phone? Suicide prevention and “Hot Lines” have been effective services for people in trouble for many years. They are therapeutic, but are they helpful. They definitely are not therapy.
So what about doing Critical Incident Response over the phone? You are dealing with a person who just experienced one of the most difficult days of their lives, don’t they deserve a face-to-face meeting rather than a disembodied voice? I have discovered a couple of things as we have implemented doing some telephonic interventions. First of all, in our world today with “virtual offices” or telecommuting from around the country, lots of time you can’t get everyone into the same room at the same time. Telephonic responses are the only option. I have also discovered that if I can get several people into a room, even if I am not there, you can successfully facilitate a group discussion. If they are not in the same room, it is more challenging and you talk more than you would like, but people do respond to the teaching, and give positive feedback on the intervention.
Our experience at CCN suggests that telephonic responses can be very helpful for employees who have experienced a disruptive experience in their work environment. People respond to the attention they get, the information that is discussed, and suggested techniques that increase their natural resiliency skills. The research that has been done clearly demonstrates the value. So CCN will continue to move forward into this new arena, providing services to employees after disruptive events both on site, and telephonic, exploring new ways to deliver quality interventions in a timely fashion.
CCN Author: Dennis Potter, MSW, LMSW
