Correspondence as adjunct to crisisline intervention in a suicide prevention center

A volunteer correspondence service was implemented in a suicide prevention center for certain frequent callers who phoned repeatedly, but whose situation did not improve. The interest in such a measure was fostered by feelings of inadequacy in a number of volunteers about handling frequent callers, which some researchers think accounts for volunteers' burnout and the high turnover. Five frequent callers with a moderate to low suicidal risk began a 6-month written correspondence with five experienced volunteers, no restrictions being made on their use of the crisisline. The frequency and length (minutes) of calls per month to the crisisline dropped for most of the callers, and the suicidal urgency of their calls remained moderate. The participants reported that rereading their correspondent's letters in times of distress had a soothing effect. In spite of having to deal with some reputedly difficult-to-manage frequent callers, all volunteers wished to renew their involvement in the correspondence service. Other suicide prevention centers are invited to experiment with this innovative type of adjunct intervention.