Helpline Not So Helpful

Woodstock NY

Description

Has anyone had one or more bad experiences calling a number ending in -2485, -8801 or -2443? I have and so have 2 people I know and trust; it was primarily the first #: -2485, on the night shift. If it's happening to 3 people, chances are it's happening to far more. This organization touts itself as a crisis hotline whose slogan was, "Anything Under the Sun." One could call to simply get things off one's chest, even frustrating things. We've had difficulties with Randi, Steven and Jerry. There may be more. There has been rudeness, outright shouting of insults at us and arbitrary time limitations which were not announced until several minutes into the conversation, which was supposed to be helpful and nonjudgmental. The training, which I took in 1992, strongly taught NOT to give advice, but to encourage the caller to generate his/her own solutions, thus empowering him/her, rather than encouraging dependency. That practice seems to have gone by the wayside. If you recognize this organization and have grievances, lets get together and call for some accountability. Thanks for reading.