Supporting someone in distress

Tap each title to expand. Work through each section in numerical order

1. Active listening with people who are worried or distressed

Active listening is even more important

	Show you care: really focus on the person, make eye contact, put away your phone Dont talk about yourself at all How are you feeling today?
	Have patience: it may take time and even several attempts before the person is ready to open up Trust and safety is all
	Open questions 'Tell me more...' Provide a space to pause, think and reflect
	Have COURAGE: don't be put off by a negative response or feel you need to fill a silence
	Many people are not sure if they should talk about their worries Who to ask? How to discuss them? When to discuss them?
	We need to notice but not push Notice when people are worried or concerned Avoid pushing people to talk about things they don't want to discuss

2. Demonstrate calmness

Keep speech volume normal: not raise or too quiet. Talk in a normal tone to show that you don’t feel threatened, angry or shocked

This will show respect and care for the person

Be assertive:

Understand the situation that the person is in
Control your own personal emotions and stay calm
Use the right body language
Use the right words and statements

This is an illustration of what calmness looks like on a human male body, this includes relaxed forehead, head at a slight angle, relaxed shoulders, relaxed posture, low musle tension, open hands, closed mouth relaxed face, varied glance, and varied eye contact.

3. Alleviate a person's distress

Stay calm Be assertive Use active listening skills Create the right emotions and atmosphere Be aware of your own body language Use supportive verbal language

4. Remember that you are NOT a counsellor, therapist or medical practitioner

	You can use good communication skills and genuine empathy to enable a person to express how they feel about what is causing them worry or distress AND how to find out about addressing it
	NEVER probe a person to talk about more than they want to because this can cause extreme distress if not handled by trained experts

5. Adapt to a person's situation

	Stay with them and continue to communicate with empathy
	Leave them alone for a while to have a cup of tea or watch TV to an hour or so
	Suggested that they pop/phone in tomorrow or next week to have another chat and proactively suggest a time
	Call for assistance if you are Concerned about the person and/or You’re concerned about your ability to offer support

6. Workbook exercise (1)

Workbook Exercise

Workbook exercise (1)

Think about an occasion when you have supported a person who was distressed. How did you feel about the immediate support you gave?

Think about:

Acceptance
Trust & genuineness
Empathy
Establishing rapport
Active listening

How did you adapt your support to reflect these five key elements?

Reflect on your support to the person:

How did you know what they needed?
Do you feel that your support made a difference to that person?

7. Next - to move forward click the blue arrow (if this is not shown click the + sign to the right)

Module 1: Good conversations and empathy