Volunteers working on hotlines are asked to listen to “multiple calls for help, sometimes stories of violence, problems relating to loneliness, extreme poverty, or even sexuality.” Behind an anonymous call often hides real cries of distress. Callers search sympathy, empathy, consolation, understanding, friendship ; they want the volunteers to help them find within themselves how to get better, how to get out of a difficult situation . Listeners encounter a whole world cut off, disconnected from society. These calls are received by volunteers in boxes provided for this purpose located in premises provided by the Association.
Listening in a helpline is stressful and can impact the mental health of volunteers. The emotional and psychological impact of this activity is very important. It can lead to volunteer burnout, otherwise known as compassion fatigue. Compassion is a feeling of deep sympathy and pain for an individual who is struck by suffering or unhappiness. These feelings come with a strong desire to relieve the pain of the suffering person. So compassion fatigue represents burnout in people who work in a helping relationship and who frequently come into contact with the distress and suffering of other individuals. This form of exhaustion has two consequences, according to Figley: the first obvious one is in the listener, which presents the symptoms of fatigue. The second is more insidious because it involves inflicting possible additional pain on the suffering person by adopting an inappropriate posture. Seeley then speaks of distorted caring brought about by a change in listening posture. When this happens, the volunteer usually leaves the line.
Faced with this exhaustion, a very important resource is available to listeners, social support. Researchers who have worked on the subject emphasize the importance of the presence of peers at the end of each shift. This reduces the level of stress generated. This is why some authors recommend organizing the shifts so that a minimum of two volunteers are present at the same time. This allows the listener to exchange and express very quickly the negative emotions that may have arisen as a result of the shift. In addition, the presence of peers makes the action of the listener visible. Benmenni-Leprince speaks of a “visible witness”, who when present values the action of the volunteer. This witness is particularly important, again according to Benmenni-Leprince, in situations where the action of the volunteer is “invisible”, “confidential.” As is the case for the action of a listening volunteer, who must respect strict anonymity The absence of a “visible witness” can lead to the loss of the sense of action, of motivation and thus favor the emergence of compassion fatigue.
Finally, these authors recommend that organizations set up frequent meetings and debriefings with volunteers in order to discuss the work and strengthen cohesion in the listening group.
Bibliography :
Benmenni-Leprince, L. (2020). Le psychologue auprès de bénévoles et de pairs-aidants : une clinique distanciée. Le Journal des psychologues, n° 374(2), 37–41. https://www.cairn.info/revue-le-journal-des-psychologues-2020-2-page-37.htm
Figley, C. R. (1995). Compassion fatigue: Toward a new understanding of the costs of caring. In Secondary traumatic stress: Self-care issues for clinicians, researchers, and educators (pp. 3–28). The Sidran Press.
Seeley, M. F. (1995). Altruism in hotline volunteers–The final distortions of caring. Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, 16(2), 52–53. https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910.16.2.52