Telephone counseling in Germany

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The telephone counseling (alternative spellings: telephone counseling or telephone counseling ) is in Germany a pastoral offer in responsibility of the Protestant and the Catholic Church . She can be reached by telephone from the German landline and mobile network around the clock at the nationwide toll-free numbers 0800 1110111 (Protestant) and 0800 1110222 (Catholic) as well as 116123 , and on the Internet via webmail and chat via the central website of the German telephone pastoral care . It is the only facility in Germany that offers telephone conversations day and night for people in crisis.

Development in Germany

Three years after the first telephone counseling in London, this offer was also available in Germany: On October 5, 1956, a private telephone number for people seeking help was published in Berlin, which resulted in the Berlin telephone counseling . This was followed by Kassel (February 8, 1957) and Frankfurt am Main (October 1, 1957). On September 16, 2006, telephone counseling in Germany celebrated its 50th anniversary. In Germany, two umbrella organizations of the two denominations have developed: the Protestant and the Catholic conference for telephone counseling and open doors , which organize the cooperation of 104 German (including 67 ecumenical) telephone counseling offices in the joint Evangelical-Catholic commission. According to the Evangelical Conference for Telephone Pastoral Care in Berlin, around two million callers used telephone pastoral care in Germany in 2009. The specialist magazine 24/7 has made a name for itself as a medium of telephone counseling (from 1984 to 2016 under the name Auf Draht ).

Principles

  • Anonymity : Nobody who calls is asked for their name. Everyone can remain anonymous. The caller's number does not appear in any display . The phone call is free of charge and does not leave any data trace in the individual connection record on the phone bill. The telephone counselors also remain anonymous.
  • Confidentiality : All employees are subject to confidentiality .
  • Availability : The telephone counseling centers can be reached day and night nationwide, including weekends and public holidays.
  • Competence : The employees of the telephone counseling are selected, trained, continuously trained and accompanied by regular supervision by experts.
  • Openness : The telephone counseling is open to all problem areas, to all callers in their respective situation.
  • Free of charge : There are no costs for those seeking advice. As a telephone counseling partner, Deutsche Telekom pays the incurred telephone charges . On the Internet, the person seeking advice only incurs their own connection costs.

Pastoral care and advice on the Internet

Telephone counseling in Germany has also done pioneering work on the Internet . In addition to phone calls, she also offers pastoral care via webmail and chat . The first telephone counseling services were represented on the Internet as early as 1995, making telephone counseling one of the oldest advisory services on the German-speaking Internet. With over 300 internet advisors in around 35 offices, telephone counseling is also a central point of contact for people with problems and in crises on the internet. use your own voice to discuss problems. The Internet thus facilitates access to this auxiliary device even more than the telephone did before.

Voluntary work

The telephone pastoral care offer is only possible as a 24-hour service with the cooperation of more than 8,000 volunteers across Germany . Thanks to their commitment, telephone counseling has been available for calls around the clock for several decades, every day of the year. At the beginning of their training, the volunteers declare that they are willing to work for a minimum (usually two) years after their training. Most of the volunteers, however, remain in service for much longer. In some positions there are volunteers who have been with us for 40 years or more. In addition to the telephone service, over 300 employees also work on the Internet.

Organization in Germany

The oldest German institution of this kind, the telephone pastoral care in Berlin , is not affiliated with the church and, as a registered association, has to finance itself largely through private donations. Otherwise, telephone counseling in Germany is generally carried out by the Protestant and Catholic Churches. This is currently being done at 105 independent telephone counseling centers with over 8,000 volunteer and around 350 full-time employees.

In principle, the telephone counseling service can be reached around the clock throughout Germany with the following numbers:

  • 0800 1110111 - Protestant telephone counseling
  • 0800 1110222 - Catholic telephone counseling
  • 116123 Number for telephone support services

Legally, the positions are designed differently. Some of the church telephone counseling offices are offices of regional churches or dioceses , which are themselves corporations under public law . They are often run in the form of a registered association (eV). Overall, different legal entities act as sponsors: regional churches, dioceses, deaneries , church districts, and occasionally associations of diakonia and Caritas . The telephone counseling is financed mainly from church tax funds . In addition, there are donations and, in a few places, government grants.

In Germany there are two umbrella organizations for telephone pastoral care corresponding to the two denominations: The Evangelical and Catholic Conference for Telephone Pastoral Care and Open Door. Together they form the Evangelical Catholic Commission for Telephone Pastoral Care and Open Door . This committee decides, among other things, which offices work in the network of telephone counseling, which are allowed to use the toll-free telephone numbers in their catchment area and the names with the preferred spelling "TelephoneSeelsorge". The name Telefonseelsorge has been protected as a word mark at the German Patent and Trademark Office in Group 45 (“Offer of willingness to talk and advice on life problems, primarily by telephone”) since March 26, 1999 .

As of 2020, the separation of the numbers into the two Christian denominations will no longer be carried out in most areas of Germany, only in Munich, for example, it depends on which number you call.

Telephone counseling in Germany is part of the International Association for Telephone Counseling (IFOTES) based in Geneva.

quality control

Both the technical conditions and the calling behavior of people and their problems change over time. In order to guarantee the quality of the work, a constant examination of the issues of the times must take place. This takes place at association level, among other things, through international or national congresses, further training courses and specialist conferences for employees. Full -time and voluntary employees are regularly trained and supervised in the on-site offices or at regional and national meetings . In addition, there are national and international standards for selection, training, and supervision of employees.

Anonymity and data protection

Since the digitalization of the telephone network, those responsible at the telephone pastoral care in Germany have been actively dealing with questions of data protection in order to be able to effectively advocate the anonymity and security of those seeking advice. The possible proof of individual connections and the Internet pose great challenges for anonymous advice. The telephone counseling has also been successful in this regard at the political level. In the meantime, anonymous and unobservable access to the telephone advice service is even guaranteed by a federal law ( Section 99  TKG ). In addition, telephone counseling has also implemented a comprehensive security concept for online advice and helped initiate the Sewecom project for secure Internet communication. The state laws of Federation and countries apply when Telefonseelsorge not directly, as this area is regulated by the churches specially (ecclesiastical policy). The data protection officers of the local church bodies are therefore responsible.

Personal advice on site / open doors

Pastoral care by phone or by email and chat has its media-related limitations. After a conversation with a telephone counselor, it can also make sense to meet in person for a consultation and perhaps even to receive qualified support for change processes for a while. In some telephone counseling centers there is such an option for personal advice.

In some German cities it is also possible to take advantage of the “Open Doors” advisory service. These are counseling institutions that work closely with telephone counseling or are directly affiliated with a body. In direct contact they offer advice, crisis support and pastoral care for people in emotional, religious and social needs. As with the other telephone counseling services, calls are treated with absolute confidentiality and here, too, there is the option of remaining anonymous with regard to your own name.

Training of volunteers

The training to become a volunteer telephone chaplain takes place in the local offices in accordance with the framework guidelines of the umbrella organizations. A selection process is carried out before the training, which can include individual interviews and group procedures. The training usually lasts twelve to 18 months and includes self-awareness as a way of dealing with one's own problems and life issues and deals with conducting a helpful conversation. The professional focus (depth psychology, gestalt therapy, systemic, etc.) can differ in the individual positions. Overall, the technical basis of the training is the client-centered conversation according to Carl Rogers and the beneficial attitude formulated therein for a helpful conversation. The technically sound training in interviewing and the supervisory support and further training make the activity in telephone counseling interesting for many people. Every year around 1000 people are newly trained as telephone counselors.

See also

literature

  • Franz-Josef Hücker: Telephone counseling. In: Wilfried Engemann (Hrsg.): Handbuch der Seelsorge. Basics and profiles. Evangelische Verlagsanstalt: Leipzig, 3rd, completely revised and expanded edition 2016, pp. 573-590, ISBN 978-3-374-04258-6 .
  • Eberhard Hauschildt, Bernd D. Blömeke (ed.): Interdisciplinary telephone counseling. Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 2016, ISBN 978-3-647-62435-8 .
  • Franz-Josef Hücker, Margot Jung: Telephone counseling in childhood and adolescence . In: our youth 10/2012 (the magazine for study and practice in social education), 64th year (Ernst Reinhardt Verlag, Munich), pp. 422–431.
  • Joachim Wenzel: From the telephone to the internet. Online counseling for telephone counseling. In: Bauer, Stephanie / Kordy, Hans: E-Mental-Health. New media in psychosocial care. Heidelberg 2008. pp. 89-103, ISBN 978-3-540-75735-1 .
  • Traugott Weber (ed.): Handbook of telephone counseling, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. Göttingen ²2006, ISBN 3-525-62386-0 .
  • Cordula Eisenbach-Heck, Traugott Weber: Six years of “telephone counseling on the Internet”. A report on the evolution of email counseling. In: Elmar Etzersdorfer, Georg Fiedler, Michael Witte (eds.): New media and suicidality - dangers and intervention options. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Verlag, Göttingen 2003. pp. 73-86, ISBN 3-525-46175-5 .
  • Birgit Knatz, Bernard Dodier. Help from the net. Theory and practice of advice via email. Klett-Cotta-Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-608-89720-8 .
  • Joachim Wenzel: Confidentiality and anonymity on the Internet. Problems of data security and data protection with possible solutions. In: Elmar Etzersdorfer, Georg Fiedler, Michael Witte (eds.): New media and suicidality - dangers and intervention options. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2003, pp. 56-70, ISBN 3-525-46175-5 .
  • Frank van Well: Psychological counseling on the Internet. E. Ferger-Verlag, Bergisch Gladbach 2000, ISBN 978-3931219093 .
  • Monika Maaßen, Thomas Groll, Hermann Timmerbrink: People do not understand themselves - telephone counseling between communication technology and communication ecology therapy. Vol. 5. LIT Verlag, Münster 1999, ISBN 3-8258-3539-1 .
  • Jörg Wieners: Handbook of telephone counseling. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1995, ISBN 3-525-62348-8 .
  • Ingo habenicht: Telephone pastoral care as a form of intentional pastoral care. History, phenomenology and theology. An investigation into the self-understanding of telephone counseling from a poemical perspective. Kovac, Hamburg 1994, ISBN 3-86064-184-0 .
  • Klaus-Peter Jörns: Telephone Pastoral Care - Night Face of the Church. A chapter in pastoral care in tele-culture. Neukirchner, Neukirchen-Vluyn 1994, ISBN 3-7887-1505-7 .
  • Clemens Müller-Störr: Subjective crisis theories in telephone counseling. Schöppe & Schwarzenbart, Tübingen 1992. ISBN 3-928111-01-9 .
  • Helmut Harsch: Theory and practice of the advisory discussion: Training course of the Evangelical Telephone Pastoral Care Munich . Chr. Kaiser, Munich 1973, ISBN 978-3459008681 .
  • Chad Varah: Samaritans. Help over the phone . Stuttgart 1966.
  • Erich Stange: Telephone counseling . Oncken Verlag, Kassel 1961.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Radio Essen: Telephone counseling Essen works together. Radio Essen, accessed on July 14, 2020 .
  2. ^ Franz-Josef Hücker: One can share worries. The concept of telephone counseling . In: Sozial Extra 3/4 2011, 35th year (VS Verlag, Springer Fachmedien DE, Wiesbaden), pp. 10–15.
  3. ↑ a b A strong community | Telephone pastoral care Germany. Retrieved March 20, 2020 .
  4. ↑ a b Deutsche Telekom bears the costs of the telephone connection and ensures that calls are distributed according to regional proximity.
  5. ↑ a b This number cannot be reached from abroad. For German-speaking people in need in non-German-speaking countries, there is currently no reception system.
  6. ↑ a b In many German cities and regions, the two major denominations offer a joint service under the numbers 0800 1110111 and 0800 1110222 and 116123.
  7. ↑ DPMA register information for the protection of the word mark TELEFONSEELSORGE
  8. ^ Franz-Josef Hücker: Telephone counseling in the shadow of anonymity. When a good intention is reversed. In: 24/7 Zeitschrift der TelefonSeelsorge Deutschland 34 (1) April 2017, pp. 16-18.

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