Crisis counselling and telephone befriending (Samaritans)

Domain VI · Brief, integrative, trauma, hypnosis & coaching · Chad Varah · 1953 · London

What it is

Samaritans is a volunteer emotional-support service, not a psychotherapy. It was founded in London in 1953 by Chad Varah, an Anglican minister. A Picture Post article by Varah led to its founding, and the befriending ethos of Toc H shaped it. Varah first gathered people who would talk to anyone…

Format

• Samaritans publishes no phased treatment model or session count. The contact is open-ended and led by the caller. The structure below is how the published elements fit together. Its sequencing is.
• Format. The service is a single contact, repeatable at any time, mostly by phone. Calls go to one of 200+ branches across the UK and Ireland, and there may be a wait. Callers need not give a name. Volunteers do not see the caller's number. Calls are free and do not show on phone bills. Relay UK is…

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Version followed: Samaritans (UK and Ireland) as it describes itself publicly in 2025–26: its contact and strategy pages, its SHUSH listening tips and DEAL schools listening resources, and its guidance for people supporting someone with suicidal thoughts. The internal volunteer training curriculum is not public. Older long-term "befriending" is described from a historical source only.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• plans the person doesn't own, or a plan with no reachable people on it.
• distress behind hostility. A boundary can be held while still treating the person with respect.
• shame about calling, or a gap between how often the client calls and what they report in session.
• your own multitasking or rehearsing a reply. Working when the caller elaborates without prompting.
• signposting used to end the conversation early. Working when the caller chooses a next step themselves.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.