24/7 Emotional Support plays an important role in Orange County’s Crisis and Suicide Prevention continuum by providing non-crisis or crisis prevention support over the phone or through live chat, for anyone struggling with mental health and substance use issues. Upon connecting with the WarmLine, individuals are screened for eligibility and assessed for needed mental health information, support and resources. Staff draw upon their lived experience to connect with callers and provide them with emotional support and referrals to ongoing services as needed. Callers who are experiencing a behavioral crisis are immediately referred to the Crisis Prevention Hotline.
Active listening, a person-centered motivational interviewing skill, is effective in establishing rapport and demonstrating empathy, and can be especially useful with callers in the pre-contemplative or contemplative stages of change. The WarmLine also uses Positive Psychology, a resilience-based model that focuses on positive emotions, traits and institutions. This model trains mentors to focus on the positive influences in callers’ lives such as character, optimism, emotions, relationships and resources in order to reduce risk factors and enhance protective ones.
