In rural areas people will often share their problems with a trusted professional from outside the mental health area, says Charles Sturt University lecturer and clinical psychologist Gene Hodgins.

Many people with mental health issues in rural areas are not seeking treatment, and if they do, access to mental health services is limited outside the major cities, he says.

"So rural professionals like hairdressers, bank managers, agriculture suppliers and vets have a crucial yet often overlooked role in looking after the mental health of their community," Associate Professor Hodgins said.

Instead, rural people do often talk about their problems with 'safe' professionals - those they already have trusted relationships with for other routine reasons. And these professionals - hairdressers, accountants, vets, teachers, agriculture suppliers - often listen to their problems.

"Accountants and bank managers are good examples. A rural accounting firm once asked me to come in and train staff on how to deal with farmers who were attending meetings about finance or succession planning, and then letting it all out in a flood of tears about how stressed they were, and sometimes even their thoughts about suicide," Associate Professor Hodgins said.

In this way, it can be easy to see how hairdressers too can be proxy counsellors, given the very close and trusting relationships they often have with their - especially female - clients.

"These professionals have trusted work relationships where country people often pour out their emotions and open up to them about their problems. Training in some simple skills would allow them to approach these conversations with confidence," Associate Professor Hodgins said.

Director of St Mary's Rainbow Preschool at North Wagga, Sharon Gill, shares Associate Professor Hodgins' views.

She and her fellow staff of St Mary's, as well as St Luke's Preschool in Central Wagga, decided two years ago to do an "accidental counsellors" course through TAFE.

The skills learned on that course are used on a daily basis, Mrs Gill said, with staff most recently finding themselves talking to families impacted by bushfire.

"At the preschool, we deal with a lot of families and a lot of people - and are out and about in the community - and we find that families are exposed to various events in life: stress, anxieties, trauma," Mrs Gill said.

"We have found that we are often the first point of contact for a lot of those families. We often find ourselves in accidental counselling situations.

"The first thought is, first and foremost, for the children. But it's also about supporting families and how we can do that. So we took the initiative and looked into the course.

"We have families who may not have support here in Wagga. A lot of families move to Wagga for various reasons or their families have moved away and they don't have anyone to talk to, and quite often in a small community, we are one big community."

For Mrs Gill, doing an accidental counsellors course has proved helpful.

"It has supported the knowledge we already have, but it's helped us to reflect on the questions we ask the families when we are approached; the right questions to ask, acknowledging and understanding how the person who has approached is feeling and then guiding them to the right services," she said.

"We can find ourselves quite nervous when we talk to families. Obviously our profession is early childhood education, not counselling, so we are aware we need to be really careful about what we do say. The last thing we want to do is give them advice that is wrong.

"So this course really encouraged us to be very mindful of what we say, and just ask those questions based on how they are feeling, the story behind why they are feeling the way they are feeling and directing them to someone who can help them better than we can."

Dee Mace teaches the course at Wagga's TAFE campus, and believes most people will at some point find themselves filling the accidental counsellor role.

Accidental counselling can happen anywhere, she says, also using the example of a hairdressing salon.

It tends to be a place people go and they just get things off their chest.

"An accidental counsellor can be just anyone who is in a position where people disclose stuff. It could even be people who meet at the bus stop: You can be chatting to people and they can disclose something that might need a specific response," Ms Mace said.

She said some people remained wary of asking others how they were feeling because they were concerned about not reacting in a helpful way.

"It can make people scared to talk to others, especially with things like mental health or suicide, or domestic violence. They're some pretty serious topics that are going to be discussed and sometimes people are scared to address them because they think they are going to make it worse," she said.

"The biggest bit of research that has come out recently was that if someone is talking about suicide, or you get the feeling they are thinking that way, you are better off coming straight out and asking 'are you going to hurt yourself', "do you feel like you want to hurt yourself?' It takes the onus off and you have a definitive answer."

Ms Mace said topics included effective communication and active listening, but also self care. "We also do a section on self-care. Self-care is paramount. If you are trying to support someone else, you have to make sure you are looking after yourself too," she said.

For those who find themselves in an accidental counselling role, Ms Mace has some advice: Listen.

"Sit down with the person and give them the time they need to get things off their chest," she said.

"It's also very important for people to be aware of the support services locally. If you have that knowledge, you can share it with the person needing further specialist support."

Zoe Evans is the Murrumbidgee regional manager of mental health organisation Wellways Australia, which has identified sports coaches and captains, hairdressers and bar staff as some of the "gatekeepers" needed as part of an informal network that could help identify people who may need help with their mental health, and with suicide prevention.

Gatekeepers can be the people that we interact and come into contact with on a daily basis. Often gatekeepers occupy informal roles, Ms Evans said.

"Many people who are experiencing suicidal thoughts communicate distress through their words or actions, but these warning signs may be missed or misinterpreted. By building a network of appropriately trained gatekeepers in our community we can strengthen our local safety net," she said.

Anyone needing support and information can contact beyondblue on 1300 22 46 36, Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Suicide Callback Service on 1300 659 467.