Humanist Hope said 9 years, 9 months ago:

@fickle-reality

That’s a great resource. Thanks for the tip.

Treeboy said 9 years, 8 months ago:

Quick question, Jonathan. You’re not a telephone counselor or a counselor by any chance? Your original post reminds me of a lot of the stuff I learned when I went through training.

Mellow Mallow said 9 years, 7 months ago:

This is very helpful to me, as a newer listener to this website. Thank you for posting it and having it available for us.

Humanist Hope said 9 years, 6 months ago:

I do not make myself available for contact outside of the internet. I am a peer counselor, and I will be friendly with Venters, but I am not a professional, and I can not realistically become friends with every Venter with whom I speak, I would overextend myself.

I tell everyone that my inbox is always open.

MJ said 9 years, 6 months ago:

I don’t know if it was said but I think it’s important to note that it’s okay for listeners to be venters sometimes! And probably healthy!

Casper said 9 years, 3 months ago:

Can I add that when I vent, people tend to try as hard as possible to come up with a solution? I’ve tried to explain why it doesn’t work that way to them, but they always reply with, “If you’re sad then try to be happy,” or things like that. They don’t seem to understand that what I tend to need is a way to get my mind off the subject, not a solution, because they’re not a therapist, they’re a listener.

Whenever I avoid coming up with solutions the venter seems happier with my advice.

Deleted User said 9 years, 1 month ago:

I’ve been both a listener and venter on this website, and from both experiences you learn to become a better listener.

I have noticed that there is one rude person on this chat a lot tho, as a listener, he (i think it is a he) has contact with the girl who made the site? But this person is really judgemental really quick. and makes fun of your issue. That is horrible. So I try to be supportive, weither it’s dark and serious, or because it’s a bit more minor or just something bugging someone’s mind. But we are here to help people, not make them feel worse, make them cry or that they should be ashamed having some trouble with something.