(1) Supportive Listener (SL)

Become a Supportive Listener with Breaking the Silence

For many experiencers, the hardest part isn’t the encounter itself — it’s having no one to tell. The Breaking the Silence Project is looking for compassionate volunteers to join our Supportive Listener program, offering a safe, judgment-free space for people to share their UAP/NHI experiences without fear of ridicule or disbelief.

As a Listener, you won’t need to have answers — just the willingness to be present, to hear someone’s story with an open heart, and to gently connect them with helpful resources like support groups, hypnotherapists, or trusted readings when needed.

All Listeners complete the free Be There Certificate training to build core peer-support skills, and we ask that you stay within your scope as a listener rather than a counselor — real healing often begins simply with being heard. If you have the patience, empathy, and steadiness to hold space for someone else’s truth, we’d love to have you join our community of Listeners.

Role Summary

A Supportive Listener’s job description is to listen. A Supportive Listener (SL) attempts to help experiencers understand and process their experience, connecting them to resources such as support groups, hypnotherapists, and suggested readings.

Breaking the Silence Project does not have field investigators and is mainly concerned with experiencers. A Listener’s role is supportive, not investigative. We do not collect data for any reason. 

Core Responsibilities

• Listen to experiencers with patience, empathy, and without judgment
• Help experiencers understand and process their experience
• Connect experiencers to appropriate resources, including support groups, hypnotherapists, and suggested readings
• Recognize when a situation calls for a resource or professional beyond a Listener’s role, and refer out accordingly

Scope & Boundaries

• A Listener will stay within the scope of their abilities at all times
• A Listener will not offer psychological help unless the Listener is a trained professional
• A Listener’s role is supportive, not diagnostic

Confidentiality

• Listeners treat everything shared by an experiencer as confidential and do not disclose an experiencer’s identity, story, or personal details outside the organization without the experiencer’s consent
• Case notes, contact details, and other identifying information are kept private and secure, and shared only with Breaking the Silence Project leadership when necessary for support or referral purposes
• If an experiencer discloses an intent to harm themselves or others, the Listener’s confidentiality commitment does not override the responsibility to seek appropriate help

Time Commitment

• Listeners volunteer their time on an as-needed, flexible basis as experiencers reach out to the organization
• Listeners are expected to respond to experiencer outreach in a timely and reliable manner

Requirements

• Completion of the Be There Certificate (betherecertificate.org)
• Submission of the completed certificate to the Breaking the Silence Project
• Honor Confidentiality at all times

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, please let us know below: