LAUNCHING 1800CHAPLAIN

National Director of Chaplaincy Australia, RALPH ESTHERBY, shares the vision and purpose of the 1800Chaplain helpline, launching on 15 November 2021.

Q: Can you tell us what 1800Chaplain is?

Ralph: 1800Chaplain is a new toll-free service which aims to accommodate the needs of people seeking Chaplaincy support. To be clear, Chaplaincy Care is not counselling and at no point will our call team be providing counselling services – they will be offering all the services that a Chaplain provides in their normal roles: pastoral care: a listening ear; an opportunity to talk about life issues; an opportunity to talk about grief and loss; care in the midst of loneliness and despair; conversations regarding meaning and purpose and; issues of faith and understanding (when raised by the caller). They will be offering connection with another human who is able to help the caller find support, comfort, reassurance and, where needed, referral to other services.

Q: Why is there a need for another helpline?

Ralph: Long before the COVID-19 spike in demand for various Helplines, Chaplaincy Australia identified the escalating need for quality chaplaincy to be available oncall and after hours. This has been repeatedly relayed to the organisation by its national network of chaplains and over 1,000 churches. Crisis services, such as Lifeline, have been fast-tracking volunteers and shortening their training program from 14 to 4 weeks. 1800Chaplain can alleviate this by offering earlier intervention, before the person experiences suicidal ideation.

Q: Who is 1800Chaplain for?

Ralph: 1800Chaplain is available to anyone in the Australian community. 1800Chaplain is a safe and confidential forum that takes a holistic view of the person’s emotions, stressors, challenges and moral dilemmas. It is staffed by full qualified Chaplains, who hold accreditation with Chaplaincy Australia. Chaplains are well trained, caring professionals who are accredited for the task. They are called into ministry due to a great passion to care for and reach out to people who are experiencing pain, distress and suffering in their lives. They stand with people on their worst days and offer caring non-judgemental support. Trained to provide referral to mental health services and other professionals / support agencies they complement the welfare strategy of the organisation in which they are embedded. Q: How is 1800Chaplain different to LifeLine? Ralph: We celebrate and appreciate the work of Lifeline. The goal is not to replace, compete with, or even to mirror services such as LifeLine. 1800Chaplain offers earlier intervention, preventative pastoral care before the person experiences suicidal ideation. We want to provide a Pastoral Care Line that provides ‘lower level’ care than would be normally escalated to life saving counselling lines. We anticipate that we may be able to ease the burden currently faced by crisis lines by providing care prior to this level of escalation. Where they need not shy away from deeper questions about their life, their relationships, their faith or their sense of purpose.

Q: How are Chaplains qualified to crisis calls?

Ralph: All Chaplaincy Australia’s fully accredited chaplains have achieved at least a Certificate IV in Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care or progressed to a Higher Education Diploma of Chaplaincy with 100 hours of a supervised placement This training, coupled with specific 1800Chaplain training, prepares the call-team to connect with the person for a friendly chat to discuss life’s everyday challenges. This after-hours and on-call service will fill a growing hunger for preventative pastoral care. By providing this point of difference, these resources will take pressure off the lifesaving crisis help lines.

Q: How is 1800Chaplain going to operate?

Ralph: On 15 November 2021, 1800Chaplain will launch an 8 hour per day service with over 100 trained Chaplains ready to take calls. In the following 12-months, the service will increase to 16 hours per day and then to 24/7. When the need increases, the 1800Chaplain platform is designed to take as many calls as we have Chaplains available. Our call-team are ready, with highly developed skills, to help everyone who calls. 1800Chaplain training includes a refresher of all basic chaplaincy concepts, specific skills training for work on the telephone, clear reinforcement of the limits of care to be provided, crisis response techniques, and extensive referral skills training.

More info: info@chaplaincyaustralia.com

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