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The 10306 Psychosocial Support Helpline-A Scalable Model for Crisis Response and Brief Psychotherapy

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The 10306 Psychosocial Support Helpline is an innovative national mental health service in Greece, established in March 2020 and currently funded under the Programme of the National Recovery and Resilience Facility Plan, Greece 2.0, European Union - Next Generation EU, under the political auspices of the Ministry of Health. It operates 24/7, is anonymous and free of charge, and serves as a central hub for mental health support with four main options: (1) immediate psychological support for adults in crisis; (2) psychosocial needs assessment for adults; (3) support for families, children and adolescents (including parenting skills support); and (4) specialized care for Ukrainian refugees. Over 540,000 calls have been received to date. All calls are answered by a multidisciplinary team of licensed psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, and child psychiatrists and child psychologists, ensuring professional care. Immediate intervention (20-40 minutes) is offered, and if further help is needed, an internal digital referral system links callers to either the on-call psychiatrist, brief psychotherapy service, or social work unit, depending on assessed needs. A key innovation is the brief psychotherapy service: a time-limited (12-16 week) online psychotherapy program, offered to selected adults and parents based on eligibility criteria. This is the only non-anonymous service option, though it is still free of charge. The helpline is theoretically grounded in Group Analysis and Systems-Centered Theory. It functions not only as a psychosocial tool for the public but also as a live matrix for inter-professional reflection, mutual empowerment, and adaptive growth. New services are added or revised based on caller needs and broader social demands. The service exemplifies a scalable, multidisciplinary, and cost-effective model of public mental health service delivery, emphasizing connectivity among professionals, transparency, and responsiveness to evolving societal needs.

Source: European Journal of Public Health

DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckaf161.747

Authors: T Skali, M Theodoroulakis, V Sapouna, G Spyrou

Institution: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

Language: English

Topic: Psychiatric care and mental health services

Subfield: Clinical Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,181