The Baton Rouge Crisis Intervention Center is going digital.
The crisis center is joining several other similar centers nationwide in using an online chat proven to be just as popular as BRCIC’s telephone service, THE PHONE.
Six crisis centers around the country worked together to develop the online chat pilot, and the BRCIC was the second center to go live online.
Albany, N.Y.; Austin, Texas; and the state of Arkansas are the only other centers in the country to use the chat program, said Aaron Blackledge, director of advancement at the BRCIC.
“We realized that many teenagers were not reaching out through traditional means of the phone,” Blackledge said. “We wanted to reach them through an instant messaging system.”
Cassie Dinecola, social work graduate student and counselor at BRCIC, said an important benefit to using the instant messaging is its anonymity.
The chatter can choose to give his or her name, e-mail address, age and general reason for the chat. However, the chatter can also choose not to comment on the general information section, Dinecola said.
Statistics show more people are choosing to speak with crisis centers now that online chats have been set up, according to Blackledge. Through online chatting, the BRCIC hopes to reach younger people who would not normally choose to communicate via phone, he said.
An average crisis call on THE PHONE usually lasts between 20 to 30 minutes, but online chatters usually give more information than one would over the phone, Blackledge said.
Because chatters feel more comfortable online, conversations can take an hour or longer because they want to engage in a deeper conversation than they would over the phone, Blackledge said.
Many at BRCIC believe the new chat method is a step in the right direction because younger generations use newer technology more often.
“I think that the people who would be requesting online chat help are probably predisposed to computer communication,” said Lauren Roberts, psychology senior and BRCIC counselor.
Even though the online chat has opened doors for the crisis centers, there are some cons to the new system.
“I would say that chatting would take the personal element out of THE PHONE,” Roberts said. “It’s much more difficult to tune in to emotions or find the words behind the words that actually help us work out the crisis at hand.”
Crisis management strategies are different over the Internet than over the phone because counselors must ensure they are on the same page as the chatter, Dinecola said. The counselors lose auditory cues in the caller’s voice that they would pick up over the phone.
Dinecola described her time working as a counselor at the BRCIC as a rewarding experience.
“It’s definitely a good feeling to complete challenging chats and calls,” Dinecola said.
Other centers in the country have been inspired by the use of the crisis chat and hope to join the effort online.
Seven other centers have shown interest and are expected to join online this year, including Portland, Ore., Seattle and Cincinnati, Blackledge said.
“Ideally, we want a crisis center in every state that has the ability to reach people over the Internet,” Blackledge said.
BRCIC can be reached at crisischat.org.
 
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Contact Kate Mabry at [email protected]