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CONTACT Pittsburgh provides regularly scheduled training programs, open to our prospective volunteers and others for professional or personal growth. Crisis Line education includes up to 42 hours of the most comprehensive training of its type in the greater Pittsburgh area. Class are presented by professional from the community teamed with current CONTACT Crisis Line Specialists and staff facilitating small groups and role plays.
Participants learn basic and advanced active listening skills and are trained on diverse topics including suicide, managing conflict, physical and sexual abuse, sexuality, chronic mental illness, adolescent and child development, depression and loneliness, death and bereavement, substance abuse, intervention, information and referral.
To complement the training program, ongoing continuing education is provided. A lending library with books, video and audio tapes is available.
2007 Fall Training
Spring training to begin the evening of September 20th.
Volunteers are always needed for the 24 hour Crisis and Suicide Hotline. Call
the office for details on the Training Session.
Training Cost for Volunteers:
$50.00 Individual
$75.00 Couple
$30.00 Student or Senior Citizen
$50.00 Senior Couple
Training Cost for Non-Volunteers:
$150.00 All Sessions
$50.00 Active Listening Sessions
Some scholarships are available.
Training Topics
| Topic 1: | PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS AND CONFLICT |
| Developing non-judgmental attitudes toward parties in conflict. |
| Topic 2: |
ACTIVE LISTENING I |
| Basic primary empathy, reflecting open-ended questions. |
| Topic 3: | DOMESTIC VIOLENCE |
| | Commonalities of abusers, ways that victims may attempt to communicate their experience, community resources. |
| Topic 4: | MENTAL ILLNESS |
| | Major diagnoses, key questions to ask, how to be a reassuring voice, discussions to avoid. |
| Topic 5: | DEPRESSION AND LONLINESS |
| | Signs of depression, causes, coping mechanisms, treating symptoms, alone versus lonely. |
| Topic 6: | ACTIVE LISTENING II |
| | Giving feedback, setting limits, communicating advanced empathy, caring confrontation, contracting, option exploration, ending the call. |
| Topic 7: | STUDENT AND YOUNG ADULT ISSUES |
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Developmental stages, listening strategies and effective communication with teens. |
| Topic 8: |
DRUG & ALCOHOL USE |
| | Origin of substance abuse, co-dependency, assessment and referrals. |
| Topic 9: | HUMAN SEXUALITY & SEXUAL MINORITIES |
| | Dynamics of human sexual development and dysfunction. How sexual orientation develops, gay/lesbian/bisexual relationships, transsexuals, transvestites. |
| Topic 10: | HANDLING SUICIDE CALLS |
| | Establishing communication, assessment, ideation about suicide/death, signs and symptoms, and intervention procedures. |
| Topic 11: | DEATH AND BEREAVEMENT |
| | Stages of dying and dynamics of bereavement. |
| Topic 12: | EVALUATIONS |
| | Individually scheduled. |
| Topic 13: | PHONE ROOM INTRODUCTION |
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