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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
December 14, 1978     Shelton Mason County Journal
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December 14, 1978
 
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Crisis Clinic has plenty of listeners Sick of good advice ? Pick up your phone! Tom Campbell "We're not here to talk him out of anything- including suicide... "" noncommittal wheri a • phone-conveyed crisis may be at that point where serious considerations include even the likes of suicide? Well, the guidelines are in fact there - in a massive file kept by information and referral coordinator Sara Bassett, who's been with the clinic since its inception. But it's not the crisis intervener's job to volunteer them unless the troubled caller has decided himself that it would be in his best interests. "Inside we may want to agree or disagree with the caller," says Bassett, "but in the end that wouldn't serve his best interests. He wouldn't be calling if he hadn't already talked with people with opinions -his family doctor, perhaps, or a clergyman or even a taxicab driver or bartender - and found that those opinions alone didn't do him any good." "As long as the person is able to find someone to tell him what to do," adds Campbell, "he'll continue to avoid facing By STEVE PATCH Thinking of killing yourself?. No? Well, perhaps you're not quite terminally sick of the way things are - only good and fed up with all the sage advice people have for you, along with their poorly veiled condescensions of pity because you obviously aren't smart enough to see it their way. In either case, there's someone waiting at the other end of phone number 426-3311, waiting there with the express purpose of listening. That's right: listening. Not preaching that the wrath of God will be upon you should you persist in tipping the bottle; not harping at you with an assistant professor's persistence that it's high time you paid the piper; not loading you up with any more guilt trips than you already have. "That's not our reason for being," says a voice behind that voice in your earpiece. "We don't make value judgments - or at least we don't express them. We just believe inherently that people can solve their own problems." The voice is that of Tom Campbell of Kamilehe, and Campbell is director of a largely volunteer work force that for five years now has been providing what is known as "crisis intervention" here in Mason and Thurston Counties. Thousands have called upon the completely confidential services of the Crisis Clinic this past year alone, and in each and every instance the response has been the same. "Active listening is the process we use," says Campbell. "We try to ask open-ended questions to encourage the caller to make his own choices. "If we make value judgments ourselves we're not going to help the person solve his probelms. We're only going to be dependent." Already this year some 16,000 calls have been taken by the clinic's approximately 50 phone volunteers, who together keep the lines open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Last year at this time, the total was only about 8,000. "Are people experiencing more problems?" asks Campbell. "I'm not sure. Emotional needs are as they always have been and always will be. But economically people may be having more problems these days. They're not always getting their basic needs met." At the same time that people are finding themselves short financially, Campbell continues, they are experiencing more and more pressure to have the things money can buy. And around Christmastime, especially, this translates into greater stress. "It's an incredible time of pressure," he says. "To many people, being able to buy lots of presents at Christmastime is a symbol of being a good parent, so when they come up against their purely economic inabilities to do so they feel inadequate." Sara Bassett  , "'Inside we may want to agree or disagree with the caller - but in the end that wouldn't serve his best • interests... "" establishing another one-up dependency the person hardly making the decision himself. And has need for." if we at the clinic try to tell him What? No guidelines at all? what to do we'll only be making How can a person remain him that much more Sale Christmas Sidney Gould and Alex Coleman ALL SWEATERS 20% OFF Also matching skirts Mr. Alex for the full figurel ................... 25 off Alex Coleman ................................... .. 20% off Kneeland Center next to West Realty Ph. 426-4266 BLOUSES * 10 or less All kinds, all colors, must see to believe Sweater Coats ............................ 20% o. Corduroy blazer, vests, pants, skirts by Alex Coleman 20% off Perhaps not surprisingly, the clinic experiences an increase in suicide-related calls along about tiffs time of the year. "It's an especially family-oriented time," notes Campbell. "And if you don't have family or friends it can really make you question the value of your life." Although only about two or three percent of the clinic's calls involve suicide attempts or even expressions of active consideration of suicide, the subject naturally is a focus of some attention. In fact, volunteers often breach the subject themselves. "We don't want to give people the impression that only very sick people think about suicide," says Campbell. "In fact, l'd say a majority of people experiencing severe depression at one time or another have thought about it- whether they actually considered it within the realm of possibility or not." So volunteers usually will ask directly, "Are you considering suicide?" And usually the answer is an immediate yes or no. "That kind of frankness lets the caller know that we encourage exploring the depths of his feelings,", says Campbell. "But we're not here to talk him out of anything, including suicide - no matter how much we might be opposed to it. Society already has provided enough value judgments in that regard. We're another alternative, another option for people to learn to help themselves." Campbell says death-wish discussions have been shown, too, to have no negative influences whatsoever. "It's a myth that talking about suicide will hasten one's doing it," he says. Lest one think the Crisis Clinic is preoccupied with the likes of suicide, drug addiction and severe depression, Campbell hastens to point out that the majority of calls are motivated by less sensational problems. More common are those involving rifts between spouses, child abuse and neglect, alcohol • !! i • ;! and so on. "In fact," says Campbell, "it's another real myth that street drugs constitute the bulk of addiction problems. In our area, especially, prescription drugs are a far greater problem." In any case, the nature of the crisis isn't half as important as the person's perception of it. "A surprising number of our callers start out by saying, 'This isn't a crisis but...' " observes Campbell. "What we try to convey is it doesn't necessarily have to be a crisis for you to call here. Even if you just need to sort tlffngs out or have someone to talk to. "After all, being bored itself can be the start of a crisis." "But we don't want to support someone in his being bored," puts in Dot McLaughlin, coordinator and trainer of volunteers and the third and final paid staff member at Crisis TAKING A CALL in the Crisis Clinic's hideaway -- and the kept secret in the express interest of maintaining confidential ant --is one of about 50 volunteers who rotate to keep the vigil 24 day, seven days a week. Clinic. "We really encourage the person to explore what he might be doing instead so he wouldn't be bored - let him know he does have a choice." "Some people merely want to get some recognition - someone to feel sorry for them," adds Campbell. "To them we might say something like, 'You know, it really sounds as though you're enjoying being bored.' In that way we shift the responsibility back to them." While the clinic's service is for both Thurston and Mason Counties equally, only about ten percent of the calls come from Mason County. McLaughlin suggests this may be the result of more than simply a difference in population densities. "There seems to be alcertain pride among many people in a rural area - a feeling that perhaps they don't really need outside help," she says. "I know only two years ago, for instance, a person involved in law enforcement in Mason County told me that rape just doesn't happen there. Of course, we know that isn't true. "The point is we have to learn that pride should never be "allowed to stand .in the way of our making life more happy and healthy." Another interesting statistic is that women outnumber men callers about two to one. It used to be an even greater disparity, too. "Things are changing very slowly," notes Campbell, "but it does seem that men are beginning finally to feel it's okay to feel weak and helpless and to cry." Campbell wishes to make it abundantly clear that weakness and dependency need not be stifling burdens. People can get healthy. No greater proof, it seems, can be found t ha the clinic itself. "Probably at least a of our volunteers wet, callers themselves," director. "They are have gone through themselves and know have valuable share with others." Campbell encourages with compassion to or her services. Not is allowed to take the reminds, alluding importance of nonjudgmental position. "But most pe qualify come to rewarding," he says. life is not all problems. Many of ot]r are people who are some of the" stronger "in their lives. "I know that's very to me." vergreen Evergreen Square • 426-3456 • Shelton Limited i Shop to I evenings stock land , on, I Sunday $4.19 Vacuum ' I Server L_.. ..... • " NORELCO o DIAL.A.BREW ® I1' coffee maker lO-Cup Dial.A-Brew • brews cof- " fee dark, medium or light according to individual taste. u Brew Miser'" Basket- ,o helps savo coffee because, :ou you can make as few as 3 • to 5 cups. Assorted Styl t Cookie Jars $7.88 SUGG. VALUE $11.95 Ceramic Planter United China Brasstone $4.99 SUGG. VALUE $6.95 Curler Dryer 900 Watt { $22.7 5140 $13. i SUGG. VALUE $39.95 ?': Cards Gift Wrap Decorations 'o,,Ico ® mmttmml . microwave • cooking systonl. O . Multi=Cook Va, Selector System to: Bake • Ro SteweSimmer oKeeP Built-in 3 position rer ing and serving traY. Large cookin{ • 35 minute dual speed 1 Dual indicator lights signal bell. Deluxe full color Recipe Book. #R6000 299. SUGG. VALUE $4,. °9. SUGG. VALUE $17.95 Page 10 - Shelton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, December 14, 1978