Translations:Training modules/Dealing with online harassment/slides/mental-health-counseling/4/en

Why shouldn't you offer counseling, even in a case where the person needs it or you believe you know what to do? For more than one reason:
 * Boundaries: As someone handling a harassment issue, your community expects you to act in a neutral, investigatory manner. Reaching past that role to counsel an involved user risks confusing them – "is this person an investigator or my friend/advisor?" – and overstepping the trust your community gave you.
 * Not dividing your energy: You hold advanced rights in your community because your community felt you had expertise in the skills that role calls for: discretion, knowledge of IP address technology, good judgment in resolving disputes, and so on. Even if you think advice beyond your role could be useful, remember that you are of most use to someone in a harassment situation by using the skills the community asked you to use; try not to get sidetracked by trying to offer other services as well.
 * Safety of the user: Unless you are a trained mental health professional, you simply cannot know the appropriate way to treat or counsel someone in a mental health crisis. Trying to do so without the necessary expertise means that, if you make a wrong treatment decision, you could inadvertently harm the person you are trying to help. In the case of mental health and crisis counseling, this kind of mistake could lead to a person in crises becoming even more upset, or causing a non-life-threatening situation to escalate into a life-threatening crisis.
 * Liability: By representing yourself as someone able to provide mental health advice, you could be violating laws in many places that govern who may give medical treatment. If such a law applies to you, you could be held legally responsible for negative repercussions from the advice you provided. Professional providers have insurance to protect them in this situation; you likely do not.