The Church has published a new training video about how leaders can make interviews more inviting.

Some members have had experiences that make them feel anxious or overwhelmed when they meet with a Church leader. Leaders should seek ways to help them feel calm, safe, and comfortable. The video offers the following ideas:

• Find out from the member what you can do to help.
• Always give the member the option of having someone else be present during an interview or meeting. When meeting with a member of the opposite sex, a child, or a youth, ensure that a parent or another adult is present. He or she may join the meeting or wait outside the room, depending on the preferences of the member with whom you are meeting.
• If meeting at the meetinghouse makes the member uncomfortable, decide together on a different place to meet. Find a place where the Holy Ghost can be present and you can keep confidences. Also consider your own safety and the safety of the member.
• Meet with the member virtually. (See General Handbook, 31.4.)
• Reassure the member that your conversation will be confidential.

The video appears in the following locations:

• General Handbook, 31.1.4, “Interviews: Help the Member Feel Comfortable and Safe“
• Counseling Resources: Abuse (Help for the Victim), in the section “Seek to Understand“
• Abuse website “How can Church leaders support victims of abuse?“