SUICIDE PREVENTION HOTLINE (212) 673-3000

To download Samaritans 911 newsletter, with information about Samaritans and current events in the fields of befriending and suicide prevention, click here. Please note: you need Adobe Acrobat to open this PDF file.

For over 20 years, the Samaritans of New York has been providing emotional support to people in crisis--from those suffering everything from a bad day to a broken heart to some traumatic loss or life-threatening illness. If we have learned anything over that time, after responding to over half-a-million calls on our 24-hour suicide prevention hotline and training over 25,000 lay and clinical caregivers and health professionals, it is that trying to help people in crisis is a complex and challenging process that is often as difficult for the one providing the help as it is for the one receiving it.

So after all these years of practicing our "befriending philosophy" and preaching the importance of non-judgmental care and empathetic listening, we felt it was time to not only share what we have learned over the years and the activities we are currently involved in but to also highlight and inform those interested or involved in the "helping professions" about some of the many important, exciting and effective humanistically focused efforts and initiatives taking place in our communities.

As an organization that refers to its approach as "befriending," we use the term "humanistic" in its classic sense, meaning of human ideals, as well as to imply a focus on caring and community and empathy not just hard facts or science. In that way we distinguish ourselves from formal clinical theory, though surely all effective practice, lay or professional, humanistic or scientific, contains the same mix of caring communications and rapport building, evidence-based findings and research.

It is our hope that the Samaritans 911 newsletter will contribute to the building of what is sometimes referred to as a "caring community" and provide a little insight, perspective and, possibly, a new way of looking at things for those of us who believe it is our responsibility to help our fellow man and woman get through these sometimes challenging and difficult times.

We thank the American Red Cross for supporting this effort as well as the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, NYS Office of Mental Health and so many others who have contributed and continue to support our work to prevent suicide and save lives.

(excerpt, Winter 2005 )