The experience of psychodiagnostic and counselling work of the hotline in the conditions of pandemic in Transnistria

Abstract

The subject of this research is the interaction of psychologists with the callers to psychological support hotline in the conditions of pandemic in Transnistria. The authors explore the peculiarities of communication between specialists and clients of the crisis hotline in the time of large-scale emergency situation. The article describes the experience of organizing and functioning of the open hotline within the regional component in Transnistria during 2020–2021. Special attention is given to structurization of the principles and technologies of the emergency psychological response in the work of psychological support lines under the conditions of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The authors determine the peculiarities of rapid diagnostics in the context of counseling over the phone, outline the stages, tasks and specificity of psychological counseling of hotline callers based on the sampling of over 2,000 callers, including 176 adolescents and young men. The novelty of this research consist in determination of the diagnostics and counseling in the work of the psychological support hotline based on the regional specificities features of Transnistria and conflict emotional experiences of its residents. Leaning on the acquired results, the author develops practical recommendations for the hotline specialists of rendering psychological supports in the CIS countries, taking into account changing requests of the citizens in the conditions of crisis and emergency situations. The analysis of the results reveals the nature of appeals of the citizens to hotline and their conflict emotional experiences in the time of COVID-19 pandemic. The conclusion is made that the crucial components in interaction the psychologists and callers to the psychological support hotline in the context of the pandemic in Transnistria are associated with anger, frustration, experiencing loss, depressive states, child-parent relations, and distance learning.