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Professional Psychotherapy and Counseling by Telephone

[Gary Rosenblatt,Ph.D.] [Home Page] [About Telephone Counseling]

About Telephone Counseling

In addition to seeing clients in my offices, I have been providing counseling and psychotherapy by telephone for the past several years. From first hand experience I have been learning about the usefulness of this service. I have worked with parents of small children both individually and as couples helping them avoid the inconvenience of finding a sitter or travel time to a therapist's office. Homebound clients due to physical limitations or psychological issues such as agoraphobia have benefited. The ease of access and quick response has provided clients in crisis with professional contact in a short period of time. There have also been clients too busy or just not motivated to go through all the steps of setting up an appointment and traveling to a therapist's office. A few clients have moved to other cities or travel a lot but we have maintained the continuity of regular counseling appointments. Some clients prefer the complete privacy and anonymity telephone counseling offers and are able to open up about sensitive material that they don't feel comfortable discussing face to face.

Of course the anonymity can be a disadvantage as well.The lack of nonverbal information can make it more difficult to establish an alliance with some clients and to assess emergency situations such as potential suicide or harm to others. In my experience these situations have been extremely rare. I did call for local help once when a client left a suicidal message on my machine.

On the other hand, I have found that voice contact enables the development of a strong alliance for most people. I have been able to establish rapport with these clients and to help them do deep and meaningful psychological work. While this type of therapy is not for everyone , when there is a good "fit" I have seen some clients benefit as much as "face to face" clients.

If you choose to call I may be able to talk to you immediately. If you leave a message on my answering machine, I usually am able to call back in a few hours. If you need to talk to me right away my pager number is given on my message. I generally respond to E-mail within 24 hours. First sessions begin with a discussion of clients' issues and how telephone counseling works at no charge. Only if a person feels comfortable and chooses to continue do I charge a fee at $40/half hour or $70/hour.

toll free 1-888-844-TALK (8255)



gary@phonecounselor.com