Will call centre staff or volunteers benefit from this course?

Yes. This course is specifically tailored for learners who may need to deal with distressed callers. Training offers many benefits to staff and volunteers including improved communication skills, emotional resilience, de-escalation techniques, managing a call with professional empathy, and overall confidence in their ability to deal with challenging situations. Giving your team the right training will result in positive experiences for both your callers and your team, with individuals getting the support they need when faced with a challenging situation and heightened emotions. Training can help reduce the impact on your staff and volunteers' own wellbeing.

What is meant by a distressed caller?

A distressed caller is an individual who contacts a helpline, customer service line, emergency service, or any other call centre while experiencing emotional distress. Distressed callers may exhibit a range of emotions, such as anger, frustration, sadness, anxiety, or panic. These emotions may be because of information they receive on the call such as having an insurance claim rejected. Distressed callers often seek assistance, support, or a solution for their problems or situations, which is not always something a call handler is able to offer. The caller may be facing challenging life circumstances, such as a death, personal crises, mental health issue, domestic violence, financial difficulties, health emergencies, or any other distressing event or situation. It is important for call handlers or customer service representatives to approach these callers with empathy and to hold the skills needed to provide appropriate support and signposting.

What types of job role could have to deal with distressed callers?

Many professionals and volunteers across different sectors may encounter upset callers in their work. Here are a few examples: Call Centre Staff, Emergency Services Operators, Mental Health Helpline Volunteers, Social Workers, Healthcare Professionals and staff in healthcare settings, Human Resources Representatives, Insurance services. These are just a few examples, but many professionals and volunteers across different sectors may encounter upset callers in their work. It is essential for these individuals to receive appropriate training and support to effectively handle such situations with care and professionalism, whilst also protecting their own mental wellbeing.

Is this course suitable for new staff members who may have just been employed?

Yes, the British Red Cross’ dealing with distressed callers is suitable for new staff members who have just been employed. In fact, it can be highly beneficial to provide this training early on in their employment for several reasons: Confidence Building: Dealing with difficult callers can be intimidating, especially for new staff members who are still getting familiar with their roles and responsibilities. This course can help build their confidence by providing them with techniques, strategies, and best practices to handle such interactions with professionalism and empathy. Customer Service Excellence: Providing training on handling difficult callers helps new staff members develop a customer-centric mindset and understand the importance of providing excellent customer service, even in challenging situations. They can learn to navigate difficult emotions, actively listen, and find appropriate solutions, which contributes to positive customer experiences. Reduction of Stress and Anxiety: For new (and existing) staff members, encountering distressed callers without prior training can be stressful and overwhelming. By providing them with the necessary tools to handle these situations, you can reduce their stress levels and anxiety, enabling them to approach such calls with more composure and effectiveness, as well as reducing the impact the calls will have on their own mental health at work. Retention and Job Satisfaction: Investing in the training and development of new staff members demonstrates a commitment to their professional growth and wellbeing. By offering training, you create an environment that values their success and equips them with the skills needed for their role. This can lead to increased job satisfaction, motivation, and employee retention. It is important to remember that handling distressed callers requires ongoing support and reinforcement. The course should ideally be complemented by ongoing coaching, mentorship, or access to resources that help new staff members apply what they have learned and continue to refine their skills over time.

Do you offer other Mental Health courses?

If the Dealing with distressed callers course is not for you, we have other courses, ranging from 2 hours to 1 day, that may suit your Mental Health at Work training needs.

Call Handling with Empathy at Work

The CPD-accredited Call Handling with Empathy at Work course is ideal for those looking to improve their call handling skills, emotional resilience, de-escalation techniques, empathy, and overall confidence while supporting emotionally destressed callers.

Book a Call Handling with Empathy at Work course today

Choose the training you require accordingly with trainer-led learning available both in person at a venue or via our virtual learning options, as well as convenient online (e-learning) courses.

In person from £800 (Ex. VAT) per group of 6-12 learners
3.5 hour course
Virtual learning from £600 (Ex. VAT) per group of 6-12 learners
Learn at a convenient location
CPD accredited
Certified by the British Red Cross

ENQUIRE NOW

From £86 (Ex. VAT) per individual learner
3.5 hour course
Ideal for UK-based hybrid teams
Learn from home or office
CPD accredited
Certified by the British Red Cross

FIND A COURSE

£58 (Ex. VAT) per learner
2.5 hours online
Train at your convenience
Learn at your own pace
CPD accredited
Certified by the British Red Cross

BOOK NOW

In person from £800 (Ex. VAT) per group of 6-12 learners
3.5 hour course
Virtual learning from £600 (Ex. VAT) per group of 6-12 learners
Learn at a convenient location
CPD accredited
Certified by the British Red Cross

ENQUIRE NOW

From £86 (Ex. VAT) per individual learner
3.5 hour course
Ideal for UK-based hybrid teams
Learn from home or office
CPD accredited
Certified by the British Red Cross

FIND A COURSE

£58 (Ex. VAT) per learner
2.5 hours online
Train at your convenience
Learn at your own pace
CPD accredited
Certified by the British Red Cross

BOOK NOW

What is a Call Handling with Empathy at Work?

The Call Handling with Empathy at Work course offers a speciﬁc type of call handling skills aimed at those working on support lines, in insurance companies or services where people have an expectation that is potentially not going to be met.

Handling calls from distressed individuals can be challenging and stressful. Call handlers may be exposed to intense emotions such as anger, frustration, sadness, or anxiety. Regularly dealing with calls of this nature can lead to emotional exhaustion, compassion fatigue, or heightened stress levels for call handlers.

Across the two modules, the learner develops skills to become an effective call handler, leading to more positive experiences for both callers and staff, resulting in improved customer satisfaction and reduced impact on staff and volunteers' own wellbeing. It can also signiﬁcantly beneﬁt call handlers or volunteers by improving their communication skills, emotional resilience, de-escalation techniques, empathy, and overall conﬁdence.

This Dealing with Distress Callers module includes:

signs of distressed callers and their behaviours
managing difficult conversations using effective communication skills
identifying and responding to others' needs with empathy
protecting your own mental wellbeing
developing strategies for callers experiencing emotional distress.

This Wellbeing Support at Work module includes:

different reactions to difficult situations
powerful emotions, feelings and ambiguous loss
the Red Cross CALMER framework tool for use in emotionally challenging situations
effective communication and active listening
identifying the needs of others, effective responses, resources and support strategies
building resilience and improving wellbeing.

Try a free online learning sample session

Introduce yourself to our platform

Familiarise yourself with our learning platform through a quick, straightforward sample of our Mental Health at Work courses.

Try our range of learning methods

Experience our course content through a variety of activities including quizzes, videos and knowledge checks.

Access the demo (no signup needed)

Explore in-person training courses

Choose a location to suit your team

Choose to attend an in-person course either at your own premises or at one of our many training venues across the UK.

Inclusive and safe environment

Enjoy a supportive space to share as much as you feel comfortable with in the group and participate in a range of learning activities.

Explore virtual trainer-led courses

Enjoy flexibility and convenience

Our accessible virtual courses are ideal for teams spread over a large area or with a hybrid working arrangement.

Engaging content from your home

Benefit from the same course content and discussion as our in-person courses, with adapted interactive elements.

Here for Mental Health at Work

Customer service you can trust

Our friendly team is happy to talk through your mental health training needs.

Nationwide coverage

Our training venues cover the whole of the UK – we can even come to you.

Flexible course options

Choose to learn in person, virtually with a trainer, or online.

CPD-accredited courses

Every Mental Health at Work course is CPD accredited.

Questions that you may be thinking of

Our face to face and virtual courses are CPD accredited. CPD stands for Continuing Professional Development and is the term used to describe the learning activities in which professionals engage in to develop and enhance their abilities.

Accredited CPD training means the learning activity has reached the required Continuing Professional Development standards and benchmarks. The learning value has been scrutinised to ensure integrity and quality.

How our online learning works and what happens next

Our online courses offer the same course content as our in-person and virtual courses, available as e-learning modules for the learner to complete at home or in the office.

After purchase, you will receive an email with access to log into our online learning platform.

How it works for the learner

Learners can access the course materials through our learning management system at their own convenience.

The course modules can be completed independently – a great choice for those that prefer to work through learning at their own pace and have time limitations. It can also be beneﬁcial to those who may not be comfortable talking about mental health publicly.

Mental health training can be emotionally challenging, but our experienced trainers are skilled at helping individuals cope with any challenges that may arise during the training programme. Some learners may experience unexpected emotions during the training because of past experiences. The course content is varied and may include relatable trauma or crises experienced by some individuals.

If you, or your learners, have any concerns they wish to discuss prior to the course please get in touch with our team.

Suitable for learners over the age of 16.