Delving into somebody else’s stress can be a stressful experience.
“You can’t be in the caring profession and not care enough to take calls home sometimes,” said a Saskatchewan farm stress line worker.
“You think, ‘could I have handled that in a more efficient way?’ ” said Christine, who can only be identified by a pseudonym because of the line’s confidentiality rules.
She said she finds potential suicide calls that occasionally come through the stress line among the most difficult to take.
“You have no idea where these people are usually, because we don’t have call display or anything.”
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She emphasized the support system set up for stress line workers. Counselors always work in pairs to back each other up when tough calls come in, and a debriefing process helps reassure counselors that they did their best.
An average day on the farm stress line deals with calls on depression, divorce and lack of resources.
“We get quite a few calls from farmers saying, ‘I’m tired of working long hours, having no income. How do I get out of farming?’ ” she said.
Travel is also a challenge when working on the stress line.
“We all have to be active farmers,” Christine said, which means workers have to drive into Regina.
“I think the real strength in our line is that we’re all farmers. Sometimes it’s being able to say, ‘my crop wasn’t that good either’ that helps.”
But the travel time is one of the main reasons people give for quitting the stress line. People also leave because they find better paying jobs. Stress line workers are classed as social workers and are paid accordingly.
Though Christine said burnout is not a factor for her co-workers, it can be a problem on other crisis lines.
Sister Mary Frances Seeley, a crisis line specialist from the United States, said the burnout rate can be high, but with good training and a good support system, it doesn’t have to happen. Seeley spoke at a Saskatoon conference for crisis line workers held Oct. 31 – Nov. 1.
Workers on the farm stress line must have some post-secondary education and some related experience in counselling or working with people, Christine said. Training involves a suicide intervention workshop, a three-day mediation conference, a week of book work and 20 days of mentoring with a staff member.
Seeley said the main concerns about crisis line work are confidentiality of the callers, and anonymity of the workers and their location. “It saves (volunteers) from harassment and danger.”
Christine said working on the farm stress line has made her more aware of rural issues. “As a person, you get a better perspective of all of rural Saskatchewan.”
