There is a need in every human being to communicate and be heard. It is unfortunate that some people had never been heard and understood. SPEAK2US provides a safe space for anyone to open up, speak and seek to be counseled. SPEAK2US (+919375493754) mental health helpline is a free service, which operates on all 365 days from 9 am to 6 pm.

THE SAGA

SPEAKUS was started during the pandemic, a period during which physical meetings were a strict no no, to address the mental health issues of the callers. The lived experience of Dr. Nandhini Murali and the expertise of the well known and renowed Dr C Ramasubramaiam MD, DPM, PhD paved way for the emergence of SPEAK2US mental health helpline. The volunteers were trained online from July 2020 when the pandemic was at its peak. The training took an effective and serious turn when the Executive Director of Basic Needs India, Bengaluru  Dr Rajaram Subbaiyan MSW, PhD, started training the volunteers. With his rich experience in the field of mental health, he trained volunteers from diverse fields with or without formal education in psychology. A rigorous online training for around 40 hours is given to around 20 to 30 volunteers of a batch

Dr. Rajaram Subbian’s mentoring was ably supported by Professor G Gurubharathy, Principal, MSChellamuthu Institute of Menta health and Rehabilitation.

SPEAK2US mental health helpline empowers  callers by creating safe supportive space to speak about their distress and thereby promote their mental well being. The helpline was formally inaugurated on the 10^th of October, 2020, world mental health day (Observed every year to raise awareness about the scale of suicide around the world and the role that each of us can play in preventing it). This day was selected with much care as it aligns with the purpose of SPEAK2US helpline where every conversation matters and every voice matters.

The volunteers started receiving calls through manual system. With an aim to reach to more people who are facing different kinds of psycho social distress, an upgraded SPEAK2US mental health helpline with a cloud telephony system was launched by MSCTRF (MS Chellamuthu Trust and Research foundation) on the 5^th of September 2021 in association with HCL foundation, Madurai corporation and CII (Confederation of Indian Industries),  Madurai zone.  

The calls that the volunteers receive are all recorded and maintained in the cloud by the helpline for the purpose of auditing and quality maintenance.

The callers are informed about the call being recorded. The helpline, in four and a half years, is standing tall tirelessly reaching out thousands of people with psychosocial issues.   

VOLUNTEERS (VHLS)

Volunteers are the heart of the helpline. Five batches of volunteers have been inducted in the past four and a half years. The volunteers come from different geographical locations. Their ages range from twenties to seventies. They come from all walks of life. We have professionals like psychologists, lawyers, teachers, bankers, entrepreneurs, home makers, doctors, students, retired people and IT professionals. The volunteers have professional proficiency in addressing the distress of the callers in Tamil and English.

SCALING AND GROWTH

SPEAK2US was initially run by a handful of trained, committed volunteers along with the mentors operating the system manually. With the passing of four and a half years, the volunteer strength increased from a handful to 75 with a robust system in place.  The helpline initially functioned in 3 shifts of 3 hours each. To accommodate the increase in number of volunteers, more shifts were added. Now the helpline functions every day from 9 am to 6 pm with 6 shifts of one and a half hours each. Each shift has 3 volunteers ready to address the distressed callers. Operating the whole system manually was a big challenge and that brought in the cloud telephony system. The cloud telephony system was a boon in the sense that it masks the callers identity which helps with confidentiality – the prime concern of callers with mental distress.  The number of calls received in the helpline has increased manifold, from about 20 a month to a towering 400 + a month.

A whatsapp group with all the VHLs as its members functions as the co-ordinating point where the details of all the calls are shared and every member of the group stays updated. Any information or announcement regarding the helpilne is shared here. The rosters are shared in the group every day. Any inevitable change in the roster is also updated here.

For any service to work effectively, a system needs to be developed. This volunteer driven helpline has the Steering committee as the apex body with the founder of the helpline – Dr.C.Ramasubramaniam, the executive director of MSChellamuthu trust – Mrs. Rajakumari Ramasubramaniam, mentors – Dr.Rajaram Subbaiyan and Prof. Gurubharathy, a few vhls and the co ordinator as its members.

There is also a team dedicated to the promotional activities of the helpline. This team promotes the visibility of the helpline by conducting awareness programs and ensures the helpline’s  presence in the social media. This promotional team consists of few vhls and well  wishers of the helpline.

The helpline services are completely free of charge. Some callers need more counseling sessions to fully address their issue. Such callers are referred to the in house counselors who are dedicated, consistent and  professionally qualified VHLs. The in house counselor (IHC) schedules a counseling session for the referred caller and the first two counseling sessions are free of cost. The in house counselors also present papers on the helpline in conferences. One such paper was presented by an IHC, Mrs. Muhil in Vietnam in 2024.

The consistent, committed and effective VHLs are groomed to become the quality monitoring team. This team is divided into sub groups to regulate the operations of the helpline.

Even after a VHL is inducted, the training continues. The training is planned  keeping in mind the growth of the helpline and the VHL. Attending the training sessions, willingness to learn, professional qualification and committed service to the helpline will make a VHL bloom into an in house counsellor. This is a soul fulfilling journey. When the VHL shows  consistent and committed involvement in the helpline activities, they are elevated to quality monitors. This group of quality monitors, (QM) meet once a week virtually to take decisions on the smooth running of the helpline.

For the ease and effective way of functioning, the helpline has evolved organically with 10 sub groups. Each sub group has a handful of quality monitors as its members. The sub groups function interdependently, yet individually, like how different organ systems of our body function to keep the body healthy and happy. The sub groups function thus –

1.Call auditing sub group – The calls that the helpline receives is broadly classified into distress and enquiry calls. Any call received goes through a rigorous assessment by the auditors. After the assessment, the auditor fills an audit form and a feedback is given to the VHL. Depending on the nature and duration of the call, the auditor selects the type of audit – detailed, mini or feedback only. Senior QMs calls are not audited on a regular basis but done randomly. This group is the backbone of the helpline.

1. Tech support sub group – This sub group provides all the technical support – checking the network, volunteer login, roster management and maintenance of call recordings. This sub group schedules the roster every day in the cloud. This group is the brain of the helpline.
2. Monitoring daily updates sub group – This group regularly checks and updates whether all the calls received are properly documented. This group is notified when the VHLs go on short or long breaks. This group also updates the VHLs in the WhatsApp group about the availability of the IHCs. This group is the soul of the helpline.
3. Review meeting organizers sub group – As a part of continuous learning, the helpline conducts weekly review meetings to address the challenges faced by the volunteers in attending the calls. The mentors are present to guide the VHLs through the process. A special guest is invited once a month as a resource person to add to the knowledge of the VHLs. The resource persons are eminent persons from different walks of life like psychiatrists, psychologists and people from other helplines.
4. In house counselors – The IHCs are QMs with professional qualification and dedication with a willingness to give time. The IHC schedules a counseling session with the referred caller. The first two sessions are free of cost. If the caller needs more sessions, the IHC can decide whether to charge the referred caller or give it as a free session. This group forms the heart of the helpline.
5. Resource directory sub group – The helpline has its own Resource Directory compiled by this sub group. Each VHL has a soft and hard copy of this directory. This directory is compiled meticulously, by personally contacting the psychologists and psychiatrists from all the districts of Tamil Nadu and the directory is updated periodically.
6. Repeat and Harassment callers sub group – As the helpline grows, it is inevitable to receive not so genuine calls. Such callers are identified by the Tech group and addressed by the Repeat callers group.
7. New batch Selection sub group – This group is responsible for bringing in new volunteers as and when the need arises. Until now, this induction of new volunteers is happening every year. The need for new volunteers is advertised in the social media, the applications are screened, interviews are conducted and the new volunteers are selected for training. After the successful completion of 40 hours of training by the mentors and QMs, the VHLs are inducted formally.
8. Training budding QMs sub group – The consistent, committed, curious VHLs who have a passion for learning and serving with a willingness to give time are handpicked and trained to join the band of Qms. This training is also done by our mentors and QMs for about 20 hours. The trained VHLs when they become QMs are assigned to different sub groups based on their interest and expertise.
9. Updating QM decisions sub group – Any decisions that are taken in the weekly QM meets need to be informed to the VHLs in the helpline WhatsApp group. This essential work is diligently done and recorded by this group.

For effective communication and efficient working, each sub group has a WhatsApp group. With all these in place, SPEAK2US mental health helpline stands tall and growing.

INSPIRING JOURNEYS

The helpline has numerous success stories where the caller was offered psychosocial support by the team.

Mentally ill callers were referred to psychiatrists by contacting the care takers. We have had callers trying to complete the act of suicide and our volunteers have given their full support and saved them and continued working with them. Many cases of addictions  were referred to de-addiction centers. Callers with no clarity on their sexual orientation were properly referred to IHCs. Marital issues were addressed and referred to IHCs for further guidance. Academic issues of students are addressed with care. Harassment and repeat callers are dealt with compassion and assertiveness. Enquiring callers are given proper information from the directory. Child help line and women’s helpline, Emergency Care and Recovery Centre contact numbers are also provided wherever necessary.

SPEAK2US mental health helpline has been steadily growing from its inception. It is doing a commendable work in the field of mental health. Every volunteer is a proud ambassador of the helpline. The helpline brings wellness and clarity to its callers, knowledge and satisfaction to its volunteers and peace and pride to its mentors. SPEAK2US is the first of its kind helpline that has evolved organically. Every call is taken, listened and counseled thereby every caller is helped as every conversation matters…… every voice matters.