Becoming a volunteer: your questions answered

No. Adults aged 18 and over, students or otherwise, may follow the volunteer listener pathway. The role is to listen without judgment, not to diagnose or offer treatment. Training and pathway requirements still apply.

Open “Become a listener” and follow the options displayed. When registration is open, verifying your email creates candidate access. If you received an invitation, use its personal link. Creating a candidate account does not immediately allow you to take conversations.

Your space shows the courses, readings, exercises and quizzes for your pathway, along with progress. Complete the required steps and check your results. Activation depends on pathway criteria and assigned permissions; registration or a progress percentage alone does not prove that you can start listening.

When automation is active and pathway criteria are met, the system processes activation steps. Authorized staff may also intervene. Check your account status and notifications: no fixed time is guaranteed. Supervision has its own pathway requirements; listener access does not automatically grant it.

Once listener access is active, open “My availability”. Select the period, days and time slots offered within service hours. Scheduling uses your availability, authorized languages and channels, and workload limits. Declared availability is not yet an assigned shift: check “My shifts”.

You can declare your choices in account settings when available. Adding a preference does not by itself grant permission to listen. Only authorized language/channel combinations matching your choices are used for sessions.

No. At the scheduled time, open your space and follow the steps to become ready. A shift or email reminder does not replace signing in and being present. You may take only one active conversation at a time.