If you are in a 1-1 chat, please refer the person to the suicide prevention hotline: 1-800-273-8255 or www.suicide.org. After you give the referral information, we request that you professionally disconnect from the chat by saying something like this:
“I can tell you are going through a very hard time right now. I encourage you to reach out to the resources I have provided for extra support. As a listener, I am able to show you empathy and compassion, but 7 Cups of Tea is not a crisis referral center and I am not trained to help you through this difficult situation. In a few moments, I am going to leave the chat to provide you the space to reach out to the crisis centers. I am still more than willing to support you as your listener and will check in with you shortly.”
If you are in a group support chat room, please use the “refer button” located in every message. When pressed, the user in question will receive all of the relevant referral information.