Correspondence as Adjunct to Crisisline Intervention in a Suicide Prevention Center

This article reports on a writing service started at a Montreal suicide prevention center for callers who phoned repeatedly. Frequent callers made up 22% of all users. 5 frequent callers (moderate/low suicidal risk) corresponded with 5 experienced volunteers for 6 months (use of crisisline was not restricted). The frequency & length of their calls per month dropped for most callers. Participants reported that rereading their correspondent’s letters in times of distress had a soothing effect.