this, but at the same time suggest what the child can do instead. For example: “I neither will nor may provide you with counselling on how to commit suicide, but I would very much like to talk about how you can get help handling the problems you wish to get away from.”
Although the chatter has an idea of what he or she wishes to get out of the conversation, it may sometimes be good to mention other options that the chatter herself has not yet considered. For example, the counsellor knows of a relevant mental health service whose contact information they can share with the chatter. However, that sort of information will generally not be appropriate until the next phase. Phase 3 is concluded with a clear formulation of the goal for the session and with the chatter agreeing to that goal.
EXAMPLES OF QUESTIONS AND PHRASES IN PHASE 3: “What made you log into the chat right now?” “How can the two of us talk about this in a way that would be helpful to you?” “What would you like to be different that would improve your situation?” “What would you like to take with you from this conversation?” “So if you were to say what you would like to use our chat conversation for – what would that be?” “So what we need to find out in our conversation is ...?” “So let us see if we can think of something which would make it easier for you.” “What could be helpful to you right now?”
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CHAT COUNSELLING FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH