Lifeline Training - Melbourne
I was very disappointed with the quality of Lifeline training in Melbourne. Following are some examples:The first happened on the first day of Lifeline training during a lecture by the head trainer for Lifeline Melbourne, Shaun Walsh. About halfway through the lecture a bird flew into the lecture hall. I watched it fly around while I was listening to the lecture. At the end of the lecture Shaun came up to me and said he wanted to speak to me in private. He had seen me watching the bird fly around, and started telling me off for not paying attention during the lecture. Initially I thought he was joking, then I realised he wasn't joking. He said "Birds fly in here all the time". Yes, but would a new trainee know that? This struck me as surprising to say the least because the lecture was on empathy and understanding, and in my opinion his behaviour demonstrated that he was lacking in both. If he had bothered to ask me what was discussed in the lecture, I could have easily told him. Other people in my class thought it was funny when I told them about it.
During the training there is a two day suicide intervention course. At the end of day one we were told to do something special for ourselves tonight eg: watch the sun set, smell a flower, etc. The next day one person from each class was told to make a list of the special things that all the people in the class did. At the end of day two in the lecture hall, Shaun asked the nominated person from each class to read out from their list what everyone had done. After this was done Shaun said "I notice that none of you had sex. You can have sex with me!"
I was horrified. In my opinion, even if this was said in jest, it is totally inappropriate and very unprofessional. I told several friends about this and they all agreed with my opinion. One of my friends works at Australia Post. He said that if this was said by an Australia Post person at work, he would most likely be sacked.
It is basically pot luck if you get a trainer (core group leader) with lots of empathy. Some have empathy to burn, others have very little empathy. In my opinion, the trainers I got didn't have much. That puts you behind the eight ball from the start. I was so disappointed with the two that I had, that I asked to be transferred to another group. My request was denied.
One thing that struck me as particularly ludicrous is that they put you on the phones BEFORE training is completed. In fact your first phone session is only just after half way through your training.
The trainees are told that about 20 to 25% of trainees don't get through training. We were also told that if you pass all your assessments that you will graduate. However, Shaun Walsh told me (not even half way through the training) that "I have a gut feeling that you are not the right sort of person to be a Lifeline telephone counsellor, and I'm going to have to ask you to leave". A gut feeling? That is all you need to have to "exit" someone from training? In my opinion this is very unprofessional. Either someone passes their assessments or they don't. A "gut feeling" might be because they are better looking than you, or have more sex appeal than you, or any other irrelevant reason.
I decided to ring David Althorp (the manager of Lifeline Melbourne). When I rang him to tell him of my unjust treatment by Shaun Walsh, he said: "Trainees have no rights whatsoever. They can be exit-ed at any time for any reason. There is no appeals process". (Not much empathy or understanding to be found from David Althorp either).
Other trainees that knew about my treatment from Shaun Walsh and David Althorp thought I was treated very poorly.
To top it all off, Lifeline has a no refund policy. That means that if you are "exit-ed", you don't get any of your $280 back that you had to pay to do the course in the first place. Isn't that nice.
If you are considering becoming a volunteer telephone counsellor, I would recommend getting your training at another organisation. They will most likely not have the conveyor belt mentality that Lifeline has. They will most likely not charge you ANY money for training either.
Why put yourself at risk of the "shame", "humiliation" and "financial loss" of being kicked out of Lifeline training because somebody has a gut feeling about something?
Update:
I have found out that Shaun Walsh resigned from Lifeline soon after my web site appeared on the Internet. I wonder if Lifeline suddenly developed a "gut feeling" about Shaun?
In my opinion David Althorp should resign, just like Shaun Walsh did.
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~counsel/lifeline_training.htm