An Understanding Ear

Veronica Jackson

One phone call and one person has the power to save someone’s life.

Many people turn to national and local hotlines in times of crisis, and the East Lansing area is fortunate to have a crisis intervention center with volunteers eager to lend an understanding ear.

The Listening Ear, as it is aptly named, is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In operation since July 15, 1967, it is currently located at 313 W. Grand River Ave. and provides free and confidential service for telephone and walk-in clients in crisis.  

Volunteers, or “Ears,” are trained to deal with crises including depression, suicide, loneliness, sexual assault and grief. The Listening Ear currently has 105 active members. Michigan State University students make up most of the volunteers.

Social work junior Georgianna Poulos has been a Listening Ear volunteer since February of last year. She said she started because she wanted an extracurricular that helped prepare her for social work and empathizing for other individuals.   

Poulos said the best part about being an Ear is feeling like you helped someone and that it’s rewarding when they tell you that you’ve helped.

“I had a woman one time tell me I was one of three people keeping her alive,” she said.
Patrick Sandoval is an undeclared sophomore who became a volunteer last September. Sandoval is also the new statistician.

For Sandoval, the best part about volunteering is helping someone when they are in an emotional crisis. He also enjoys the tight bonds he has formed with everyone at The Listening Ear. The worst part for him is having uneventful shifts and calls that are not actually crisis calls.

“It is extremely tiring and jading to go entire shifts and finish feeling like you didn't help anyone at all,” Sandoval said. “However, many other people I have talked to and I have had experiences where every time we've begun to feel useless we've taken a call that was just so moving and powerful that it makes all the time and effort we put forth meaningful.”

Volunteers go through roughly 65 hours of training in six days before they can answer phones.

“It was very draining,” Poulos said. “They take you to hell and back and they know it. Everyone cries.”
 
Poulos said training taught her what a crisis is, how to use emphatic listening skills and how to become comfortable with self-disclosure and confrontation. The Ears are also trained to handle sexual assault victims and suicide callers.

Poulos said she felt the training fully prepared her for taking calls.

“We had role plays in groups and with experienced Ears who used examples from real calls so it prepared you for what to expect,” she said.

The Listening Ear holds training sessions for prospective crisis counselors two or three times a year.
According to Sandoval, The Listening Ear received 10,478 calls in 2007, which averages to 29 calls a day. To date, 2008 has averaged 34.4 calls a day, but the average may decline as the year continues.

Funding for The Listening Ear comes mostly from grants. To receive money from East Lansing the group is required to provide statistics reports to the city. Money also comes from fundraisers and private donors.
Sandoval also said volunteers document the types of calls received, and a common trend among callers are feelings of isolation, loneliness and depression.

“Many people call us because they feel like they have no one else in whom they can confide,” he said.

Poulos said that issues range from what we might see as mundane, including “Exams are getting me down” and “I need help paying rent” to severe problems of suicide and sexual assault. She also said they receive calls from a mixture of age groups. 

According to the American Psychiatric Association, around 50 percent of college students report feeling so depressed they have trouble functioning. In addition, suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students. Because of this national issue, The Listening Ear can be a vital resource for students and other members of the community who feel depressed.

Volunteers answer phones 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The crisis line number is 517-337-1717.
Poulos encourages anyone to call because sometimes people just need someone to talk to.

“Sometimes people don’t want to be told what to do and just want someone to listen and understand them,” she said.  

Questions? Comments? Contact Veronica Jackson at jacks803@msu.edu

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Wednesday, April 9 at 07:54 PM:
Katie from Journalism wrote:
"Nice article! I used to work at the Ear and you described it well"