Talking connects - talking helps

Reden verbindet - Reden hilft Since a few days you can find REDEZEIT FÜR DICH in the help offer finder of Freunde fürs Leben e. V. Together with our listeners, we are happy to make this valuable offer even more multifaceted with our respective focuses in order to lend a hand to even more people in critical situations. We would therefore like to take this opportunity to introduce Freunde fürs Leben e. V. in our blog.

What unites Freunde fürs Leben e.V and REDEZEIT FÜR DICH is our common vision

Those who know each other well can achieve a lot together.

Our home has become shakier

Our world seems more chaotic with each passing day. We fear the cold in the coming winter, we struggle with long waiting times for worn-out car mirrors and other spare parts, and our wallets empty much faster than they used to. Even electricity no longer comes out of the can as a matter of course. Geopolitical and personal structures that gave us support and security for a long time have become fragile, and we look to the future with dread.

A different wind blows around our heads and shakes our mental health

Uncertainties, problems at work, financial burdens, personal challenges and fears for the future are the drivers of psychological crises. We have not yet fully recovered from the last two stressful years. New challenges are just around the corner and will unfortunately cause more people to shake mentally. Often, these crises are a heavy burden for the person concerned, a taboo for the family and the environment, for the working environment and for our society. 

Openness-the key to help

Together, Freunde fürs Leben e.V. and REDEZEIT FÜR DICH are committed to ensuring that no one has to be ashamed of their mental health, retreat in fear or fear negative consequences in their personal and work environment. We are campaigning for this stigma to finally fall and for people everywhere to talk openly about mental health crises.

With our services, we offer those affected quick and uncomplicated access to support networks, open ears and information. We want to convey the feeling that you are not alone, not with your issue and not without help. It is our concern to be there to talk to you personally, to provide information and knowledge so that those affected and their relatives can find help and support.

Our websites invite you to be inspired by health-promoting activities and proven coping strategies in order to master everyday life in a more resilient and strengthened way. We want to sensitise and encourage people to perceive their personal environment with open eyes and hearts in order to show ways to help at an early stage and to increase the social competence of our society.

People give their time and listen: That's us at REDEZEIT FÜR DICH.

How Corona overtook us and it all began

In the spring of 2020, four forward-looking and responsible coaches recognised the approaching soul pain that Corona was washing into our lives. They courageously addressed the onset of loneliness, the loss of social contacts in isolation and set up a REDEAN OFFER. From these 4 committed people, an initiative has grown which is now supported by more than 350 selfless coaches and therapists with empathy. REDEZEIT FÜR DICH today stands for: Prevention - mental health and counselling for EVERYONE in an emergency.

What talking can do

The mental merry-go-round spins faster and faster, the focus shrinks more and more and hope melts like an ice cube. Again and again, the same words whiz through the head, with them the same pain and frustration. But saying the worries out loud brings the merry-go-round to a halt. When telling a story, other regions of the brain are automatically switched on and communicate with each other, the view becomes wider again. For centuries, talking has been practised in many cultures across all ages. Today, its effectiveness has also been scientifically proven with the help of extensive research. In the Corona years, we have learned that encounters in 2D format also fire the mirror neurons and trigger a beneficial interaction. We speak with our bodies, read faces and put our thoughts into words. We have put the long tradition and easy access to altered perception at the centre of our help offer and united trained listeners. Trained coaches and therapists not only listen via phone, ZOOM or FaceTime, but give their attention and provide a sense of belonging. A conversation without a goal and without pressure is the first step out of emotional isolation and towards various offers of help.

Looking over the shoulder, exchanging ideas and being there

In addition to our main task of emphatic listening, the organising team is working diligently to make our offer of help more visible so that we also reach the people who are looking for and need support right now. We are working on our website and share our ideas, plans and activities with you on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. We welcome interactions on these channels as well.

It doesn't stop at sympathetic listening, we also want to grow together as a group of listeners.

For our listeners, we have developed a new speaking hour. Once a month, our coaches and therapists meet for a personal exchange in the virtual café, discuss current topics and concerns of our callers and continue their education in coordinated workshops with various speakers.

On 22 August 2022, Ute and Friederike finally opened the virtual doors of the Redezeit consultation hour for the first time. In a (still) small but select group of participants, as one participant put it, our first (!) trainee at Redezeit got to know some of our listeners. The connection to current issues was quickly established. The participants exchanged experiences in caring for refugees. Once again, it became clear how much mental strain translators are under and how grateful they would be for tools to avoid having to take home the suffering they hear and speak about as a burden.

Personally, I was shaken up by a contribution from our youngest participant, who courageously reported on her everyday life at school and how she deals with bullying. Where modern knowledge, new methods and technology have been introduced in recent years, the shame of affected pupils is still too great to accept offers of help.

We quickly agreed that thematic guidelines should provide a valuable framework for the consultation hour, but at the same time also provide space for current needs.

Today, we receive many calls about conflicts and crises in the work environment or in the family concerning relationships, children or the care of relatives. Our cooperation with companies enables us to be effective where we are particularly needed in order to mentally cope with the growing stresses in the work environment.

We are particularly touched by calls from desperate people with depression or suicidal thoughts. At this point, we are particularly grateful to have Freunde fürs Leben e. V., a strong partner with many years of experience, at our side. We are happy to refer to the various help offers and contact addresses on the website of Freunde fürs Leben e. V., because there is always a way out.

Make contact, talk, find confidence - This is how it works

If you need to talk, you can find a discussion partner with the right focus at https://www.virtualsupporttalks.de. An appointment is made by e-mail, and usually there is a reply on the same day or even a direct conversation by telephone or online meeting provider. The conversation is free of charge, strictly confidential and no obligations are entered into. However, our offer is not a substitute for professional coaching or therapy.

REDEZEIT FÜR DICH #virtualsupporttalks - the profile

REDEZEIT FÜR DICH stands for:

• actively supporting mental health and is committed to society, talking connects and leads to an open, reflective, approachable, emphatic society.

• Prevention and short-term help in mental emergency situations, we give each 15-30 minutes and our full attention per call

• Safety, hope and support in good as well as stressful times 

• Destigmatisation of mental stress, crises and illnesses as well as therapies

We at REDEZEIT FÜR DICH are there for:

• All people, regardless of origin, background, identity, sexuality, religion or political views, who would like to get THEIR ISSUE off their chest.

• Professionals / managers in companies or in the home office

• Teachers and students

• Families, couples, single parents

• best age People who are particularly close to our hearts.

REDEZEIT FÜR DICH is:

• A platform with more than 350 coaches, therapists and psychologists trained in listening.

• a non-profit initiative, society-oriented, without economic, political or religious goals

• an initiative in which everyone works voluntarily and without obligation

Our offer is not a substitute for professional coaching or therapy.

The Hamburg initiative has also been an official supporter and important part of the 'Mental Health Offensive' since January 2021. This information campaign is run jointly by the Federal Ministry of Health, Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the BMAFJ - Federal Ministry of Labour, Family and Youth.