Helpline – How does it work?
The helpline is available Monday to Sunday, from 8am- 6pm (EST) free for all of our callers. We uphold the virtues of keeping all our calls anonymous and confidential in order to provide our help seekers with an empathic and comfortable environment. Our main focus is to listen and understand and provide our help seekers with any information they need so they are assured that they are not alone
In a society, where young Muslims are being surrounded by negative portrayals of their religion and facing issues that they may not yet understand, Islamicare aims to use Islamic fundamentals as tools to find solutions. The lack of understanding of their cultural issues from mainstream service providers are also a challenge and this is where we try to fill the gap.
– All our counsellors are qualified telephone counsellors/ welfare counsellors or psychologists.
Our counsellors can provide peer to peer counselling. They display an in-depth understanding of the issues facing Muslim youth and are involved in the Muslim community and the wider Australian community. Their diversity facilitates Islamicare in serving Australian Muslim families of various backgrounds and experiences.
Islamicare has developed an extensive orientation process, as well as an on-going training program. During the orientation process, counsellors are provided with extensive instruction and support on phone and chat counselling, as well as counselling within an Islamic framework. At this time they receive further in-depth training on the issues facing Muslim youth in Australia. This training has been developed in conjunction with other counselling professionals, health care workers, and social service organizations. Islamicare also provides educational development training for its counsellors. This on-going training focuses on specific issues, such as depression, suicide, family violence, etc. during each session.
Our promise to you…
- To always be accessible and provide this service free to our callers.
- Setting an anonymous and confidential surrounding is very important to us. We value the trust that our callers give to us and we do whatever it takes to keep that trust.
- We do not record calls, request any of your personal contact information or share any matters expressed by our callers without their permission
- We will never judge you. You don’t need to ever hesitate or feel restricted to really tell us what’s on your mind. We’ve all made mistakes and without them, learning to become better is almost impossible
- We do not provide any Islamic rulings or answer to any fiqh (legal) related issues. There are plenty of other providers who do and suggest that you consult with your local Imam or mosque in your community
- Our main principle is to guide our callers though their issues and understand using their experiences and information they have been exposed to. Our callers are diverse and their experience are all different. They are the ones who hold the key to their answers. We just guide them using options and listen.
- Although we do not tell you what to do, preach or impose any religious beliefs upon you, we do use the guidelines of the Qur’an and Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH) as tools to help us understand and find solutions to the situation.