Relationships among experience level and value orientation and the performance of paraprofessional telephone counselors

Abstract

The effectiveness of indigenous paraprofessional helpers is thought to be partially due to the similarity in style and values between then and their clients. However, there is a concern that as they gain experience in an agency, their identification may shift from the clients to the agency. Also, there is a question as to how effective paraprofessionals (selected due to their shared values with a target population) are with value-dissimilar clients. Truax and Carkhuff's scales of facilitative conditions as well as a technique functioning scale were used to assess the helping behavior of paraprofessional telephone counselors at three levels of experience in response to value-similar and value-dissimilar simulated calls. The results indicate that performance generally improved with training and experience and that instead of a uniform deterioration with dissimilar value calls, a complex relationship existed between performance, values, and experience level.

Alleviating psychological distress of suicide survivors: evaluation of a volunteer care programme

“…With experience comes additional empathetic understanding, skill to resolve resistance of suicide survivors and flexibility to intervene in conflicts between suicide survivors and their families. These findings corroborate the early research of Kalafat et al . (1979) and later, Barz (2001) found that suicide prevention volunteers enhance their skills in empathic understanding and perspective taking as their service experience increases.…”

An Evaluation of Crisis Hotline Outcomes Part 1: Nonsuicidal Crisis Callers

“…Early process evaluations of telephone counseling interventions focused on helper‐offered conditions of empathy, warmth, and genuineness (Rogers, 1957), which are representative of helping approaches of many telephone crisis centers to this day. Studies found moderate levels of these conditions as rated on simulated calls and role‐plays, variations between centers, and increased levels associated with training and experience (Bleach & Claiborn, 1974; Caruthers & Inslee, 1974; France, 1975; Kalafat, Boroto, & France, 1979; O'Donnell & George, 1977); however, the relationship between these conditions and call outcomes was not assessed. Other studies have assessed the presence and timing of the components of the helping model and examined their relationships to caller outcomes through follow‐up calls to callers (Echterling & Hartsough, 1989; Echterling, Hartsough, & Zarle, 1980; Young, 1989).…”

Intervention Styles With Suicidal Callers at Two Suicide Prevention Centers

“…The author interpreted this finding as the caller being able to "control" the helper. On the other side, France and Kalafat (1975), and Kalafat, Boroto, and France (1979) showed that specific training could increase the use of facilitative techniques by volunteers. Only one research, by O'Donnell and George (1977), showed sufficient levels of Rogerian qualities in telephone interventions.…”