Counselling with Kids Helpline
Here's what this page covers:
- Fun quiz - how much do you really know about Kids Helpline?
- How does counselling work?
- First time contacting and wait times
- Ongoing or regular counselling
- Will you tell anyone if I'm unsafe?
- Do I have a 'file'? What does that mean?
- Frequently asked questions
- Access counselling now
Click on any of the above to jump straight to that section, or scroll on!
The nitty-gritty of counselling... how does it work?
Counselling is a conversation between you and a qualified counsellor to make sense of and understand what you are going through, to try and improve things in your life.
Counselling can help you manage tricky emotions, problem-solve things happening in your life, and learn new coping skills and strategies to improve your mental health and wellbeing.
You are the expert of your life, and the counsellor will support you to understand what's happening, why it's happening, and actions/steps to reach your goals.
You and the counsellor will explore what you're hoping to get out of the call or webchat and tailor the session length to suit your needs, with an upper limit of 45 minutes.
It’s my first time contacting… what stuff should I know?
You can get counselling over the phone or via webchat (which is typing with a counsellor in real time).
We don’t do counselling via video chat, email, or in-person.
If you call us on the phone:
You will hear a recorded message about Kids Helpline and music while you’re on hold. As soon as someone answers the phone you’re speaking with a counsellor. You can talk to the counsellor who answers – or you can ask for a counsellor of a different gender. The counsellor will help you get started by asking questions.
If there are any phone connection issues, hang tight and our phone system will try to reconnect you. If it doesn’t please call us back.
All our calls are recorded for training and quality assurances. This information is stored securely and safely.
If you connect on webchat:
You will go into the web queue. You can fill out a questionnaire while you wait. We will let you know estimates of wait time/where you are in the queue. When a counsellor starts the session, you will receive an alert. The counsellor will ask questions to help you get started.
Because webchat is text-based, talking back and forth can take a bit of time, so we aren’t able to talk through as much detail or go into as much depth as we can over the phone. This might mean that your counsellor will focus on one or two key things that you choose to talk about, but you might not get through everything. This is to make sure we give everyone a chance to talk.
Help! I'm not sure what to say or how to start!
We totally understand. Here are some suggestions:
- “I’ve never contacted before and I’m a bit nervous.”
- “Is it ok if I talk about x?”
- “This is my first call/webchat! So, how does this work?”
- “Hello, I’m <name>. Can we chat about <topic>?”
- “Hi. I don’t know what to say! Can you help by asking questions?”
- “Um, I’m stuck with how to start – but I want to talk.”
- “I want to talk about something but I’m scared and don’t know where else to go or who to speak to.”
Remember: there’s no right or wrong thing to say!
We understand that sometimes you’ve been waiting a long time and started doing something else to stay busy, or sometimes starting to share can be hard! When we pick up the call we stay on the line/webchat for a couple of minutes, but if we don't hear anything we do need to end the call so we can keep supporting other people who are on hold. If this happens and we miss you, that’s ok, you are welcome to reconnect with us anytime.
Will I have to wait on hold?
Sometimes there can be a wait to speak with a counsellor. Calls and webchats are answered in order – so the person who’s been waiting the longest will be the next to be answered.
A lot of young people contact us at a similar time of day and unfortunately there can be a wait time (sometimes over an hour). Our busiest times are after school and in the evening.
We get it – we know that it can be frustrating when you can’t connect with a counsellor right away. Please keep trying, stay on the phone/web and we'll do our best to get to you as soon as we can. We really appreciate your patience and understanding! Thank you!
Feel free to browse our website while you wait – we have lots of info and self-help content just for you. You can also check out our fun page if you want a lighthearted distraction or follow us on socials.
If you can't wait on hold because it's an emergency, please call 000.
Can I talk to a counsellor regularly? Like, in an ongoing way?
Some people connect occasionally, and chat with the counsellor who answers. Others find it helpful to have a regular counsellor that they speak with in an ongoing way.
Ongoing counselling is a service that is offered at Kids Helpline. There are services like Kids Helpline all over the world – and most of them don’t offer ongoing counselling (yep, Kids Helpline’s just special like that!)
‘Ongoing counselling’ means that you and a counsellor decide to work together and plan how to address your specific goals. You can speak to your regular counsellor weekly, fortnightly, etc. to work through problems you might be facing and towards specific goals that you and your counsellor have identified.
How does 'ongoing counselling' work? What stuff should I know about it?
You can have a chat with your counsellor to figure out what this might look like for you.
As in any relationship, there are boundaries (parameters) that you may have, or the counsellor/service have. Talking about this can help you and the counsellor set expectations about how to work together.
These boundaries might include:
- Talking about stuff like your safety and privacy.
- A counsellor not sharing personal details such as their last name, address and any other personal information (counsellors are allowed to have privacy too).
- Ways to behave – like that it’s not ok to swear at or insult counsellors (but it is ok to give respectful feedback – even if that includes stuff we can improve on).
- Counsellors not sharing specific details about when another counsellor works/doesn’t work (i.e. their work ‘roster’).
- How often you can connect with Kids Helpline (we want to make sure it’s fair and we can help as many people as possible).
Counselling isn't forever.
Like other services, there needs to be a planned end to your ongoing relationship with a regular Kids Helpline counsellor. This may happen when you have reached your goals, want to stop, or when you have the skills needed to manage things on your own.
Not needing counselling anymore is a good thing (even if it feels a bit sad or scary). And we’ll always let you know of other support services if you need them.
Will you tell anyone if I'm unsafe?
We know you’ve got questions about what we do if you contact us about suicide, self-harm or abuse. We’re happy to answer any questions you have about this honestly.
Kids Helpline cares for your safety and wants to support you to stay safe and find safety. We also have a legal responsibility to support your safety, this is called our ‘Duty of Care’.
So, everything you share with us stays between you and Kids Helpline (it’s confidential), unless we are really concerned for your safety, then we might need to let another person or service know. Situations that might make us really concerned include if you are planning to end your life/unalive yourself, child abuse, sexual abuse/assault, etc.
We are a virtual service which means that we only speak with you over the phone or webchat (not in person), and if you’re feeling unsafe, you might need more in-person support than we can offer.
We will also always try and work with you first to find ways to stay safe before connecting with another service or person. This may look like: listening to what is on your mind, understanding what triggered the safety concerns, checking in to see how safe you are feeling now, strategies to find or maintain safety, and asking about who in-person can also offer you support.
We will always try and tell you first before we let another person or service know.
Um, do I have a 'file'? What does that mean?
Time to get more serious! Here’s what info/data we collect – and why.
What kind of data do you collect?
When you contact and use Kids Helpline, our data systems may automatically collect personal information about you, such as your phone number, email address, and IP address.
Calls and webchat counselling are also recorded. If you don’t want to be recorded, you can tell us not to record your call.
Do you take notes about what I say?
We take notes about each session. This is a legal requirement and also helps our counsellors remember what you’ve shared. This can be especially helpful if you engage in regular counselling at Kids Helpline.
We use AI (artificial intelligence) technology to process calls to help counsellors save time when writing notes. We can turn this off at your request.
When do I get a 'file' - and what's in it?
Having a file means that you are getting to know Kids Helpline and we are getting to know you, so we can personalise your support.
You’ve told us you don’t like having to repeat the same stuff over and over again. A 'file' (online record about you) allows us to support you in the best way possible without you having to repeat details you have already shared, so you can focus more on your counselling goals.
If you have contacted a few times or are going to do regular counselling, your counsellor will create a file with you. It will include stuff like your goals, wishes, preferences, what helps, what doesn’t help, and what other counsellors can do if you are feeling unsafe or needing emotional support (yep, other counsellors can see your file too, so they can best support you).
What's the go with the security of my file?
These files are stored safely and securely in Australia (in line with legal requirements). Sometimes at peak times data may be processed overseas. This is done in a safe and secure way, in line with Microsoft services data protection policy. If you want more info or to access your file, you can request this here.
Still have questions? Try here...
Are counsellors volunteers? | Why can't you hire more counsellors to get rid of wait times? | Can I contact as much as I want? | Does counselling actually work?
Why can’t you just hire more counsellors to get rid of wait times? I need to talk to someone straight away!
That’s totally our dream too! We want to answer your contact as fast as we can. Unfortunately, we don’t have unlimited funds to hire all the counsellors we need to totally eliminate wait times. Kids Helpline is a charity – we’re dependent on community donations and fundraising to answer calls and give everyone free counselling, which can limit how many staff we have. We promise we’ll get to you as soon as we can, and we very much appreciate your patience!
If you need to talk to someone right now because it's an emergency, please call 000.
Can I contact you as much as I want to? (After all, you say I can contact 'anytime'!)
‘Anytime’ means we’re open 24/7. There may be boundaries or limits to how often you can call (like, you can’t call lots of times in one day or week). We have these boundaries to make sure it’s fair to everyone trying to contact us for support. We want to make sure we can answer as many contacts for help as possible! Thanks so much for your understanding with this.
Does counselling actually work though? Like, isn’t it all a bit woo-woo?
We love this question! Let’s get sciencey! Counselling has been shown to:
- Downregulate the brain’s stress response (i.e. help you feel calmer). Why? When we’re super stressed, our frontal lobe can temporarily ‘go offline’, making it hard to think clearly, problem-solve and communicate. Talking things through can help us re-engage it.
- Promote ‘neural plasticity’ (i.e. growing new brain cells and helping them learn new, positive habits). How? Exploring different perspectives and options helps our brain become more flexible, which makes it easier to change our thinking and feeling patterns.
- Strengthen ‘neural activation networks’. Huh? Put simply, learning and rehearsing new skills and strategies with a counsellor can help make permanent changes in how your brain copes with stress.
Ok, let’s get real for a moment: counselling might not be the right fit for you, or sometimes you might not gel with the first person you speak to. Luckily, there’s lots of different types of mental health support available. And you can try counselling out for yourself and see if it’s a good fit for you, or chat to your counsellor about other support or treatment options.
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