AbstractEighty crisis center callers with interpersonal and emotional problems were interviewed immediately after their calls in order to examine telephone volunteers' most helpful behaviors and the relationship between these behaviors and caller change. Listening and feedback, understanding and caring, appropriate climate, nonjudgmental support, and directiveness described the “overall most helpful behaviors,” with reliable agreement (82%) for five judges. A one‐way chisquare analysis revealed that the category understanding and caring was reported most frequently (39%). A Duncan multiple range test revealed that directiveness yielded notably more change than nonjudgmental support. Results support the current emphasis on empathy in crisis center practice and training. Immediately after the call, empathy and active listening skills are perceived as important to the c