Join us

About becoming a volunteer

Volunteers who work with OUTLineNZ are the backbone of our organisation and the people who volunteer for us come from all walks of life.

Reasons to become a volunteer

You should become a volunteer to…

  • meet new people in your community 
  • learn valuable everyday people skills
  • learn a lot about yourself
  • support your community

Our training is comprehensive. From it you will learn non-directive telephone counselling skills, increase you knowledge of our communities, develop your personal growth, and make new friends. We also provide after-training supervision and monthly ongoing training in the form of Counsellor Development Meetings.

OUTLineNZ also accepts students and graduates who may wish to gain valuable work experience in the field and/or do their practicums to assist in the completion of their degree.

Training topics include

  • Relationships
  • Dependencies and addictions
  • Sexual difficulties
  • Anxiety, burnout and depression
  • Meeting others
  • Self esteem
  • Gender / Transgender
  • Coping mechanisms
  • Sexual orientation, behaviour and identity
  • Microskills of active listening
  • HIV Aids
  • Ethics and working as a volunteer
  • Making referrals

What to expect at phone counsellor training

In order to be a good counsellor we need to have knowledge of, and about, ourselves. The OUTLineNZ course provides an opportunity for us to find out how much we know about ourselves, our triggers, our coping mechanisms, our strengths, our values, our beliefs, our behaviours and our boundaries.

The course’s exercises are structured and safe, but challenging, and will gently stretch your comfort zone. You will learn how to be an active, empathetic listener. You will learn how to reflect stories and feelings and how to explore new possibilities, and importantly how to summarise and plan goals. You will learn how to effectively help our callers and you will meet interesting, caring and committed people. You will make many new friends who are just like you.

Criteria

The basic requirement is that you are a self-accepting GLBTT person who is interested in supporting others through their journey.

*It is also expected that our volunteers roster themselves at least once a month.

Interested? How to sign up…

Should you wish to become a volunteer and would like to know more you can call us on (09) 309 3268, or email us.

Or you can sign up right here – REGISTER ONLINE NOW