ABSTRACT

To not be seen, to not be heard: to interact silently and at a distance seems an oddity for the practice of counselling. Counselling has been so aligned with what has been collectively referred to as talking therapies and to a client ‘feeling heard’, that counselling by text would seem an absurdity. However, with the advent of text-capable mobile phones, text messaging has become a preferred option for young people in New Zealand when communicating at a distance (Thompson & Cupples 2008) and this shift has had significant impact for Youthline (NZ), a youth-oriented counselling helpline1. At Youthline, the helpline phones hardly ring anymore. Young people still have problems, and Youthline’s volunteers still provide assistance, but this now occurs in the nearsilent spaces of text or SMS messaging. This chapter therefore considers just how a practice so strongly aligned with talking evolves when it is silenced.