Hi Songbird,

We need more kindhearted folk volunteering at homeless shelters as you do.  I want to say I admire the work you are doing and I know it must give you a good feeling to help out the people living at the shelter.

About a year ago I wrote a SharePost here on understanding delusions so have a read and see if this might help you understand the words related to the topics in his head.

Something that comes to mind is that maybe you don't want to ask him direct questions which could seem threatening to him, come about inquiring in a softer way if you feel you must ask questions.

People who are homeless often have vital skills that allow them to function in the world, even though a lot of them (especially women) often wind up abused while on the street.  So understand he may be using a coping skill or two in his interaction with you so that he can compensate for what he may feel are his limitations.

As I've said in here before to others who want to help people with symptoms of schizophrenia, sometimes all it takes is sitting next to them for an hour without saying a word, just to let them know you are there.  They will appreciate this in their own way wherever they are in their life at that moment.

Of course as the volunteer you may have certain responsbilities, such as eliciting from him what his needs are or if he is doing okay at that moment.  You may also want to engage him in conversation because it is the human thing to do.

Like the other person told you before I commented, it is going to be trial-and-error for you to come up with a strategy so do not get down on yourself if at first your attempts to communicate don't seem to go over well.

One thing I can suggest is that you try employing the "mirroring" technique, whereby when he express something, you feed back what he's said in his own words or similar words to show you have been listening.

As with any conversation, the key to rapport is active listening.  The more you can communicate to him that you are listening, he will feel understood, even if you yourself aren't so sure you always understand him.

You already have a ton of insight about this guy.  Maybe even putting yourself in his shoes and asking yourself, if I were him, what kinds of help do I think I would need.

Or better yet:  Let him know you're there to listen and to support him, and ask him how he thinks you could best help him.  Ask in a gentle way.

Once again I admire your ethic of volunteerism.

Best regards,

Christina

I very much admire your commitment. Christina's response is very nicely crafted and well considered. Well done and good luck.