Phone Therapy
Can you really do therapy over the phone?
People are sometimes surprised to hear how many of my clients are over the phone, and I have to admit that I myself was skeptical when I first discovered that colleagues I respected were doing telephone therapy. I assumed that the lack of eye contact and inability to read my clients’ nonverbal cues would cause the therapy to suffer.
Then I began training other therapists to do Coherence Therapy over the phone and quickly realized that telephone work is absolutely as powerful and effective as working in person. I find that the absence of visual cues forces me to tap deeply into my intuition and listen all the more intently for the truth of my client’s experience.
Recently, research has been providing empirical validation of my personal experience regarding the power and the value of telephone therapy:
What has research shown about phone counseling?
CBS recently reported on a major study showing phone therapy can have equal or better effects than fact-to-face treatment since clients are more likely to stick with phone therapy:
Click here for Youtube video (1:11)
Here’s the study conducted by Northwestern University School of Medicine and printed in the Journal of the American Medical Association (June 6, 2012) showing that clients are more likely to stick with telephone therapy that traditional face-to-face treatment: Click here to read it.
A recent study of 325 depressed patients by the American Medical Association indicates that teletherapy encourages more clients to get help than traditional face-to-face treatment:
Click here for Youtube video (2:39)
A recent study in the Journal of Counseling and Development showed that people are generally more satisfied with phone counseling than face-to-face counseling. A much higher percentage (93% for telephone compared to 63% for face-to-face) said they would seek counseling again. It also found that more than half (58%) of people who had experienced both phone and in-person counseling preferred phone.
Other studies found that people who are experiencing depression were less likely to drop out of telephone therapy and consistently showed improved mood.
Some advantages to phone counseling
• Access – Your decision about which therapist to work with isn’t limited by geography; you can choose the therapist who specializes in the issue for which you’re seeking counseling, and whoever you have the best rapport with.
• Ease – You don’t have to travel anywhere for your appointment, which makes carving out time for therapy easier.
• Privacy – You can have a phone counseling session from the privacy of your home, office, even your car.
• Comfort – Many phone counseling clients find it easier to talk openly about deeply personal issues, emotions and experiences over the phone than in person.
• Effectiveness – Research indicates that therapy over the telephone can be just as effective as meeting in person.
To schedule a session, either by telephone or in person, click here for a free initial consultation.