As a Social Service Worker student I spent 8 months as a Bereavement and Palliative Care Case Manager with Durham Hospice, an organization that provides counselling, peer support and friendly visiting individually and in group sessions for individuals suffering from life-limiting illnesses (in particular those with less than a year to live) and those who…
Correlation (Calculating Pearson’s r)
Correlation refers to the idea that two variables (x and y) impact each other. For instance, the grades in a statistics class may be related to, or correlated with the amount of time those students study. As study time goes up, grades go up. This would be a positive correlation. On the other hand, as…
Understanding Self-Esteem
Introduction Self-esteem is an oft-discussed area of personal development and one that brings lots of people into counselling. Rarely though, do counsellors and therapists tackle self-esteem directly. Instead, they work on the limiting thoughts, social phobia or other issues that prevent people from having high self-esteem. One resource for learning more about self-esteem is Self-Esteem:…
Fowler Technical Effectiveness Scale
Fowler Technical Effectiveness Scale Fowler, D.E., McGee, R.K. (1973) Assessing the performance of telephone crisis workers: The development of a Technical Effectiveness Scale. In D. Lester & G.W. Brockopp (Eds.). Crisis Intervention and Counseling by Telephone. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas, 1973. Question Criteria 1. Can the caller be immediately reconnected? In order to answer…
Methods of Evaluating Helplines and Hotlines
There are a number of methods in place to evaluate helplines and hotlines for the purposes of obtaining grants or other funding as well as demonstrating their effectiveness to their stakeholders (volunteers, clients/callers and staff). Some of these approaches are discussed here, along with their benefits and drawbacks. Most organizations will not find one method…