Intervention styles with suicidal callers at two suicide prevention centers

Callers to suicide prevention centers are mainly helped by volunteers trained to face these crisis situations. This study evaluated this process of intervention in order to better understand the nature of the interventions and their determinants. A total of 617 calls with suicidal clients were classified with a 20-category rating instrument, the Helper's Response List. Cluster analysis determined that the 617 intervention profiles could match one of two styles: nondirective ("Rogerian" -391 calls) or directive (226 calls). Further analyses indicated that the particular style of intervention was related more to the characteristics of the callers themselves than to characteristics of volunteers.