Deck 6: Telephone and Online Crisis Counseling

Question 1

The disinhibition effect means that people tend to open up earlier with more distressing issues over the Internet than they do face-to-face.​

Answer 1

True

Question 2

One of the major problems in a community telephone crisis line is that workers have to be "expert" in a large variety of areas.​

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Telephone and online counseling pose far fewer ethical dilemmas because the worker is not face-to-face with the client and doesn't know the client's identity.​

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Because the telephone worker is not on the scene,exploring alternatives and making plans need to be simple and clear-cut,and slowly and carefully mapped out.​

Question 5

One of the advantages of telephone counseling is that crisis workers can have back-up consultation and quickly access needed services.​

Question 6

One way of deescalating severely disturbed callers is to humor them by "going along" with their hallucinations as a calming technique.

Question 7

Volunteers who work crisis hotlines are actually pretty effective in helping people.​

Question 8

An iron-clad rule is that the worker checks with every caller to determine if their medication may be contributing to the problem.​

Question 9

Telephone crisis centers have ready access to a variety of support systems.​

Question 10

Telephone crisis counseling is cheap,but generally ineffective due to staffing by volunteers.​

Question 11

The best method of dealing with a sexually explicit caller is to stay on the line and establish a trusting relationship.​

Question 12

Because the Internet is international in scope there is no need to carry liability insurance if you are offering professional counseling services over it because there are no international ethical standards.

Question 13

The possibility of secondary victimization is an excellent reason for using telephone counseling because the client is in complete control of the process.​

Question 14

One of the major disadvantages to telephone counseling is that the worker may have to refer to ready-made lists of feeling words,questions on the topic,and worst of all,keep reference notes,which can all be distracting to the intervention process.​

Question 15

Lots of times complaining callers who question the callers' credentials are really wondering whether they can trust the worker.​

Question 16

Because establishing psychological contact is so important when conducting telephone crisis counseling it is the first thing that a phone crisis counselor does.​

Question 17

Pranksters should be hung up on immediately to clear the lines for legitimate calls.​

Question 18

One of the techniques for dealing with severely disturbed callers is to reflect their disturbed feelings and share their delusions.​

Question 19

One reason telephone counseling works is because clients can remain unknown or unseen by the crisis interventionist.​

Question 20

At times the telephone worker may have to provide sexual information and resources regarding sexual behavior to a caller.​

Question 21

Of the following reasons for the use of telephone crisis lines,which is not valid?​

A)Provides services isolated areas
B)​Avoids dependency issues
C)​Has vast support and referral systems
D)Uses comprehensive appraisal systems

Question 22

Which of the following strategies would not be recommended by the authors for an abusive,sexually explicit caller?​

A)Termination
B)Covert modeling​
C)Switching​
D)Staying on the line and building a trusting relationship with the caller

Question 23

In dealing with dependent callers the worker would:​

A)indicate that a time limit has been set and will be adhered to.
B)immediately terminate the call because of transference issues.​
C)let the caller cathart until he or she is exhausted.​
D)reinforce strengths,support concerns,and promote taking responsibility for themselves.​

Question 24

Predispositioning is one of the most important tasks when using the Internet for crisis intervention.​

Question 25

Volunteers are effective crisis line workers because they:​

A)don't have preconceived notions about what to do.
B)are seen as having more credibility because they do it out of the goodness of their hearts.​
C)are highly trained in one particular modality of counseling.​
D)can direct callers to the most useful local resources.​

Question 26

Call-in clients like crisis lines because:​

A)they can remain anonymous.
B)the crisis counselor is in control of the situation and can tell them what to do.​
C)crisis lines are usually staffed by professional counselors.​
D)callers can build on-going relationships with one worker.​

Question 27

It is extremely important to be careful in word choice and to use brevity when doing crisis intervention over the Internet.​

Question 28

Because conflict can occur more online than in face-to-face intervention,communication constantly needs to be clarified.​

Question 29

Hotlines may:​

A)be time limited or continuous depending on the issue.
B)use answering machines to screen callers.​
C)be set up only by government agencies.​
D)can never be used with minors due to the need for parental permission.​

Question 30

One of the major problems with behavioral telehealth and specifically crisis lines over the Internet is:​

A)accessibility.
B)confidentiality and anonymity​
C)cost.​
D)there are no problems with telehealth.​

Question 31

Which of the following is appropriate in dealing with a self-defeating personality?​

A)Getting expert help for immediate consultation with such tough customers
B)Caringly confront their rejected attempts to help them​
C)Stressing their talents and the behavioral consequences of sabotaging themselves​
D)Interpreting their defense mechanisms and caringly break through their denial​

Question 32

Handling problem callers who become abusive is best done by:​

A)leaving time limits open so they finally run down.
B)​terminating them after a clear warning.
C)posing close-ended questions to specify the problem.​
D)establishing loose and unclear administrative rules.​

Question 33

​Of the following strategies,which would work best with callers experiencing mania?

A)Debating with them until they are exhausted
B)Focusing on their talents and stressing how they sabotage themselves​
C)Slowing them down and pacing with them​
D)Confronting their grandiose plans​

Question 34

Of the following statements,which does not apply to the disturbed caller?​

A)Behavior is always purposeful and serves conscious or unconscious motives.
B)Behavior is comprehensible and has meaning even though the language may not.​
C)Behavior needs to be differentiated as to whether it is biochemically or psychologically based.​
D)Behavior is used to keep a person safe and free of anxiety.​

Question 35

Crisis lines work because they:​

A)allow callers to control the interaction.
B)provide easy assessment of client functioning.​
C)create dependency.​
D)are staffed by professional counselors.​

Question 36

In telephone crisis intervention,providing support to the client is critical because:​

A)the client typically has no support system and needs to establish psychological contact with someone.
B)it does little good to attempt any behavioral change early on.​
C)volunteers are not trained to do much more than that.​
D)the worker will need to buy time to cool the crisis off.​

Question 37

Font type has little to do with what is going on with a client.​

Question 38

A person who was identified as schizotypal would typically need to:​

A)have an immediate call to 911 for a call out for a mobile crisis team.
B)have a police CIT member go to the residence because of the danger s/he could be to others.​
C)have the worker focus on reality checks in a slow paced supportive manner.​
D)express themselves to someone supportive of their odd behaviors and thoughts.​

Question 39

Dealing with a sexually explicit caller may be done by:​

A)covert modeling by planting the idea that they have a problem.
B)flooding to extinguish their thoughts by sexual responses from the worker.​
C)reflection of their feelings and thoughts so as to show empathy and understanding of their dilemma.​
D)asking if they have some physical ailment that is causing the presenting psychological problem.​

Question 40

One of the first things a crisis line worker does is:​

A)make psychological contact.
B)ensure safety.​
C)define the problem.​
D)provide support.​

Question 41

With many types of disturbed callers,the center's focus should be on:​

A)reflecting feelings so that catharsis may occur.
B)bringing staff together to discuss these callers,plan strategies to handle them and voice concerns.​
C)​proposing the disastrous consequences that can occur from such thinking.
D)engaging callers so that they continue to make inappropriate calls and improve the center's numbers reported to funders.

Question 42

You are the clinical director of a startup crisis line service.How do you want to prepare volunteers to manage difficult callers? What types of calls should they expect,and how should they handle those calls?​

Question 43

You are a routine,but not regular,user of telephone crisis counseling.What makes this type of counseling attractive to you? What process do you expect the call center to use to help you?​

Question 44

Disinhibition effect:​

A)means that the crisis worker disinhibits the client's suicidal/homicidal ideation.
B)is a common psychological malady of sex callers.​
C)means that clients open up faster and with more personal information when they are on the Internet.​
D)means the worker must immediately attempt to anchor the client in concrete reality because of the disinhibiting effects of a psychotic episode.​

Question 45

Which of the following statements are good netiquette for a worker to practice?​

A)Don't worry about typos.Get the message and get it out fast.This is a crisis!
B)If you don't understand an acronym,be patient.You'll figure it out and you won't look stupid or offend the client.​
C)Choose a font style that lets the client get a glimpse of your personality so you come across as more human.​
D)Brevity in your responses is a good thing,so use standard,clear,counseling responses.

Question 46

Of several techniques for handling severely disturbed callers,which is not appropriate?​

A)Slow them down
B)Determine if they are on any medication​
C)Avoid placating or sympathizing​
D)Go along with delusions,to calm them down and gain their trust​

Question 47

A technique for handling pranksters and silent callers is to:​

A)wonder aloud whether it is difficult to say what the caller really needs or say nothing.
B)hang up if they don't respond in one minute.​
C)ask them if they are on drugs or are having a psychotic break.​
D)there is no good response to these two types of difficult callers.​

Question 48

You are a volunteer crisis worker at a local domestic violence support center.You routinely correspond with callers via text and instant messaging.What are some important netiquette considerations you will make with every client?​

Question 49

Netiquette is important because if I MAKE A TYPO AND HIT THE CAPS KEY IT WOULD MEAN TO A SAVVY NET USER THAT I was:​

A)shouting at them.
B)deemphasizing previous statements.​
C)signifying I needed a time out to think things over.​
D)All of the answers are correct.

Question 50

Which of the following is not a legal and ethical issue in Internet crisis intervention?​

A)The technology that allows one to identify,block,and trace callers
B)Linguistic and cultural differences​
C)The client's ability to control the content of the session​
D)How emergency services are contacted over vast distances​

Question 51

Regular crisis line callers should be:​

A)terminated quickly so others can use the line who are in need.
B)traced and told not to call again because they jam phone lines and block others from calling when they call repeatedly.​
C)classified as problem callers and staff should not try to help them.​
D)set up with ground rules and have calls limited because they are calling for some good purpose no matter how weird or inappropriate they may seem.​