Skills in Ending a Call

We have noticed that many people end crisis line calls with, “I have to take another call.”

This is NOT an appropriate way of ending the call. First off, it is often a lie. Second, it puts the responsibility of ending the call on “another call coming in.” It may communicate to the caller, “I want to talk more, but another call is coming in so I am going to let you go.” It might also communicate to the caller, “There is another call coming in that is more important than yours, so I am going to get that call.”

Often times, counselors have a hard time ending calls because they do not want to appear rude, break rapport, or piss off the caller.

Ending the call starts at the beginning of the call. If you stick to the structure of the call, and keep the call focused on the here and now, the caller’s feelings, and ONE situation, there will be natural ending time.

Some indicators that it is time to end the call include:

1) The caller is repeating herself. You can respond by saying, “We are going over the same stuff again and it seems likely you will get upset again. Let’s focus on what you can do to take care of yourself today.”

2) You have gone through the structure of the call, and the caller’s self care tools.

3) You start to feel impatient or frustrated. Take a deep breath and use one of the skills below

Here are some skills to utilize to aid in the termination of the call process.

1) “What are you going to do when we get off the phone?”

2) “What are your plans for the rest of the evening?”

3) Summarize what you have talked about in the call, and review the action plan that you guys have created together

4) “We’ve spent a good amount of time together today. I am going to let you go now.”

5) “I trust that you will be able to take care of yourself this afternoon.”

6) “I notice that you are having a hard time letting go of this phone call. I know it can be scary to let go of this connection. We had discussed what you were going to do after we hang up.”