Filling a Vital Need
Living in a foreign country can be stressful for individuals and families. Language barriers, unfamiliar cultural norms, and the absence of one's usual support system can make the challenges seem overwhelming.
Often, the results are anxiety, decreased self-confidence, and emotional upheaval. What should be an exciting opportunity to experience the world can turn into a nightmare.
For the more than 200,000 expatriates working and living in Shanghai, LifeLine Shanghai provides access to much-needed emotional support and information.
In fact, help is just a confidential phone call away.
What We Do
LifeLine Shanghai is the first confidential support service in Shanghai. Launched in March 2004, our free anonymous telephone hotline provides Shanghai's international community with easy access to effective, confidential counseling, crisis intervention, and information. The hotline is staffed by telephone volunteers who have been trained to listen and provide free, non-judgmental support 365 days per year.
Whether a caller is facing illness, the birth of a child, parenting issues, domestic violence or other relationship problems, needs information, or is simply having a bad day and wants to "vent," the hotline staff is there to listen in strictest confidence. If needed, referrals for professional counseling and psychological assessment are made to qualified, licensed therapists on a fee-for-service basis.
In addition to serving as a resource for individual callers, LifeLine Shanghai serves as a reference point for community organizations such as schools, churches, consulates, and businesses seeking information about mental health resources in the Shanghai area.
Our Code
At the heart of LifeLine Shanghai are our telephone volunteers. Volunteers are screened carefully and receive thorough and ongoing training to develop effective listening skills and the ability to help callers develop solutions to the challenges they face. As required by LifeLine International, our volunteers are strictly bound by a Code
of Conduct and a Code of Ethics, including the requirement that all calls be kept completely confidential.
