An evaluation of the effectiveness of a telephone counseling center

Abstract

Three-thousand questionnaires were distributed to students on campus to identify a sample of actual telephone counseling center users and their ratings of the effectiveness of the help received and of the counselor. Ratings of help received and impact of counseling on life as it is today were considered for sex of caller and counselor across type of problem. A sample of 66 actual callers was identified who had used the service for personal problems at least once. Of male callers, 67% reported that telephone counseling helped at least somewhat, while 80% of female callers reported favorable results of telephone counseling. Female callers who talked with male counselors reported a significantly greater impact on their life than did the callers in any other caller/counselor sex interaction. Only one average rating of counseling effectiveness by problem type fell below the neutral rating. Results are presented as evidence for the effectiveness of paraprofessional counselors.

Telephone Counselling for Adolescent Suicide Prevention: Changes in Suicidality and Mental State from Beginning to End of a Counselling Session

“…The population samples in this body of literature are typically restricted and potentially biased. For example, some evaluators have questioned only college or high school students (King, 1977; Slem & Cotler, 1973). Typically, information can be obtained only from those callers who consent to being re‐contacted; as a result, compliance rates are only 45–61% (Getz, Fujita, & Allen, 1975; Motto, 1971).…”

“…The most favorable ratings appear to be obtained when the actual counsellor or an agency staff member questions the caller (e.g., Getz et al, 1975), compared with when independent evaluators are involved (e.g., Hornblow & Sloane, 1980). Furthermore, male callers tend to give lower ratings than females (King, 1977), as do callers with serious mental illness or drug abuse (Gretz et al, 1975).…”

Teenagers' Attitudes about Seeking Help from Telephone Crisis Services (Hotlines)

“…Service utilization surveys of adolescents indicate that despite high awareness of hotlines and high satisfaction ratings among those who do contact hotlines, adolescents access hotlines infrequently (King, 1977; Slem & Colter, 1973) and less than they access other help sources (Offer, Howard, Schonert, & Ostrov, 1991; Vieland, Whittle, Garland, Hicks, & Shaffer, 1991). In a sample of 1,763 high school students, Slem and Cotler (1973) assessed the awareness and utilization of a telephone crisis hotline in suburban Detroit.…”

“…Ninety‐eight percent of adolescents had been aware of the service, 5.6% had contacted the hotline, and 68% of users had found it useful. In a sample of 3,000 Alabama college students, King (1977) identified 66 (2.2%) who had called a limited‐hour telephone counseling center. Over two‐thirds of all callers rated the hotline as somewhat effective to extremely effective.…”

Suicide prevention: Guidelines for schools

“…Women use suicide hot lines more than men do, and are typically more satisfied with their hot line experience than are men. Although most users find hot lines to be helpful, about one-third of men and one-fifth of women report that the advice they were given made their problem worse (King, 1977).…”