Children’s Experiences Texting with a Child Helpline

We explore how children experienced texting with a child helpline, based on 724 qualitative responses representing 586 individual SMS counselling sessions. The data were collected through a questionnaire distributed immediately after receiving counselling and two weeks later. The children expressed the importance of feeling listened to and accepted by the counsellor, gaining new perspectives or developing a plan of action. They also emphasised the importance of the counsellors being sensitive to their readiness for change by providing advice and directives when needed and a listening ear when that was preferred. Only a few comments concerned the medium of texting itself, indicating that the sense of psychological closeness can move the technology to the background and outside one's awareness.