Would you like to know how safely and effectively support friends, family, work colleagues and strangers who are in distress or experiencing a crisis?
We’re pleased to announce that we are now offering Lifeline Tasmania’s Accidental Counsellor training, which is a three-hour workshop that aims to provide the basic skills and a structure to enable you to provide immediate support and assistance.
According to James Ryan from Lifeline Tasmania, ‘we think it is important that everyone has the chance to become confident and know the words to help people who are distressed, because every person on the planet gets distressed from time to time’.
Often when our family and friends are experiencing times of distress they will confide in us first, before or instead of using a formal support pathway. At work, our colleagues are also more likely to seek support from us than a manager. In these times, it’s important that we have the basic skills and awareness to respond appropriately.
James says that ‘although people supporting others often have good intentions, there are some common pitfalls that can be unintentionally unhelpful’.
‘Rushing the conversation is one mistake that people make, which often comes from a lack of confidence in understanding the sequence of support, the specific words and phrases, and not knowing where or how to refer them to appropriate support’, says James.
Accidental Counsellor is a highly practical workshop that explores the Lifeline ‘Recognise, Respond, Refer, Self-care’ model, giving you an understanding of how to:
- recognise signs of distress and potential crisis
- respond with empathy and supportive communication
- refer individuals to appropriate professional support when needed
- self-care strategies for bouncing back after tough conversations.
James says that the most important thing about this workshop is that participants walk away with ‘the confidence that they know enough words, phrases and referral pathways to support anyone who stands in front of them in distress’.
Join us in Hobart on 23 April 2024 and learn how to safely and effectively support someone in distress or crisis.