Teen Helps Peers as Crisis Line Volunteer

Seventeen-year-old Sara Poster spends a lot of time on the telephone.

But Sara, of Encino, doesn’t gab much about cool vintage clothing or the latest Leonardo DiCaprio movie. She mainly talks about sexual abuse, pregnancy fears and rape as a volunteer at Teen Line, a free peer counseling service for teenagers in crisis.

“I love going. I always make it my commitment because it makes me feel good, the fact that I can help others,” said Sara, one of 80 teenage volunteers who respond to callers during four-hour shifts each week. “Even though it’s emotionally draining sometimes, at the end of the call they’ll say, ‘You really helped me.’ It’s a great feeling.”

Teen Line volunteers don’t give advice. They discuss problems and explore options with callers. They then try to help the callers decide what to do next. The volunteers might suggest that the caller try speaking to a parent or contacting a rape crisis center. At times, if someone is threatening to commit suicide, the volunteers call for emergency help.

“I’ll never forget Christmas Eve,” Sara said. “It was one of my first nights answering the telephones. A girl called who had been sexually abused a long time ago by a cousin. He was coming to visit and she wanted to run away.”

Sara sympathized with the scared teen, who felt no adult was listening to her. She listened to the caller’s concerns and they talked about the girl’s options. Eventually, she decided to stay home and deal with the problem rather than run away.

“After she hung up the phone, I realized that I had helped someone and had also learned something about myself,” Sara said. “No matter how nervous or overwhelmed I felt, I was able to do the job I had trained so hard to do.”

And training to be a peer counselor is serious business. Sara first had to pass a rigorous interviewing process, then commit to a 13-week, 60-hour training program, where she learned listening and communication techniques from mental health professionals.

On a typical day when she reports to Teen Line, Sara rolls out of bed around sunrise. She heads over to Oakwood High School in North Hollywood, where she says maintaining a good grade-point average is “an activity in and of itself.” After school there’s basketball practice, her shift on the phones at Teen Line, and then homework.

“We attract the best kids in the city,” said Elaine Leader, co-founder and executive director at Teen Line. “They’re truly dedicated.”

Teen Line was established at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in 1981, based on the observation that teens listen to each other more readily than to adults.

The nonprofit organization receives about 10,000 calls a year. Many of the youths are facing problems involving abusive parents, teen pregnancy, substance abuse and sexuality.

“The callers are anonymous so they can talk to us about anything and not worry about their parents knowing,” Sara said. “They appreciate that.”

The appreciation works both ways.

“This experience has really helped me to deal with my own problems differently,” Sara said. “It has been good life training.”

Teen Line volunteers are available daily from 6 to 10 p.m. at (310) 855-HOPE or (800) TLC-TEEN.

*

Personal Best is a weekly profile of an ordinary person who does extraordinary things. Please send suggestions on prospective candidates to Personal Best, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311. Or fax them to (818) 772-3338. Or e-mail them to valley@latimes.com