The telephone has been accepted as an important therapeutic tool in crisis intervention, suicide prevention, and community hot lines.
Telephone therapy can be useful for clients with geographical or other obstacles to regular appointments.
Even in a distant city or town one can always maintain connectedness to an emotionally present mental health professional Telephone therapy is comparable to face-to-face meetings.
We are living in a changing and highly mobile culture making telephone therapy a viable option to traditional therapy.
If you travel frequently, you can still keep regular therapy appointments, wherever you happen to be. If you are feeling too lethargic and depressed to go anywhere, it takes considerable less energy and motivation to simply pick up the phone. Studies reveal that individuals who do not have the energy to attend office visits do as well via phone therapy with less of a drop out rate.
Patients who are housebound, agoraphobic, have childcare or transport difficulties; living long distances from clinical premises must appreciate that telephone therapy is a possible option. Also those working away from home or abroad, on shifts, “too busy”, or even those who are initially nervous or anxious about office visits should consider phone therapy.