Mental health is as important as physical health and hence more important to treat mental health the way we treat our physical health. These two are interconnected, if you are in a blissful state mentally, then you will be physically healthy too, and it goes vice versa as well.
Getting counseling done when you have any mental illness is the best option to go for.
If you can’t find the time to visit a counselor, then you can get yourself phone counseling. Here is what phone counseling actually is.
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What is Phone Counseling?
Phone counseling, as the name suggests, is the counseling done over the phone. It can be either individual counseling or a couple or a group counseling. It is conducted by a professional psychotherapist or even a para-professional counselor.
This therapy is mostly suggested to clients when they need support outside the therapy or, in other words, if they need therapy in crisis or emergency.
Many licensed psychologists and psychotherapists are seeing a few clients via the phone. There have been questions as to which counseling is better, via telephone or in-person.
A study showed that more than half of the clients preferred phone counseling over in-person counseling. Another study showed that the clients found phone counseling as effective as in-person counseling.
Phone counseling is an effective treatment for illnesses ranging from depression to agoraphobia.
How Does Phone Counseling Work?
When you receive counseling over the phone, it is where you speak to the counselor and receive sessions via phone rather than sitting in a therapy room and getting sessions face-to-face.
The counselor gives you the time and space to talk about what you have been going through and what problems you are facing, giving you the support in deciding as to how you would like to change things around you.
An essential part of phone counseling is that you would feel as if you are being heard and understood by your counselor. Mostly, counselors who offer phone counseling sessions offer an assessment over the phone. This can be an important opportunity for you to get to know more about how the phone counseling works.
At the end of this assessment, you would have an idea if you are comfortable taking this counseling or not. When you finally make a decision to go ahead with the counseling, then you could talk to your counselor about scheduling your sessions, payment, and other details that are necessary to know before the counseling starts.
Reasons to Get Phone Counseling
You can always choose between the two therapies and then decide which one is more suitable for you to continue.
Here are some reasons why clients prefer counseling over the phone than face-to-face.
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It’s within your environment
Getting counseled in the environment that is the most comfortable to you helps the session go smoothly and more efficiently.
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Traveling becomes possible
Another reason why people are choosing phone counseling over face-to-face counseling is that they can get a session even when they are traveling. So you don’t have to worry about rescheduling your session even if you are out of town.
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Comfortability
When you go for phone counseling, it can be more comfortable for you to take sessions in that way. When you visit a counselor’s office, it can, in some way, make you nervous and hence can make you not open up with your counselor that much. Whereas, while taking the phone counseling, you can be more comfortable while talking to your counselor as you are in your comfort zone while you are getting a session.
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Difficulty in reaching the office
As time-consuming it is, reaching the office of a psychologist on time for an appointment, you don’t have to worry about it while having a counseling session on the phone.
There are also people with mental for whom driving and reaching a psychologist’s office can be dangerous; hence having phone counseling could turn out to be a better option.
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Isolation
While taking a counseling session over the phone, you can feel free to talk to the counselor while being alone. That way, you would feel more comfortable, and it would, in turn, help in making you open up to your therapist more.
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Confidentiality
Even though counseling sessions are meant to be kept confidential, and that is the first rule of psychologists, having phone counseling would give you more anonymity, and you could rest assure that no one else knows about your problems. Having a session on the phone is more like a virtual counseling session, you know that someone is listening to you and guiding you, yet you know that this information wouldn’t be going out anywhere.
The Takeaway
Phone counseling is gaining popularity as the clients prefer this type of counseling over face-to-face or traditional counseling. These on-phone sessions are mostly for people who have mild mental illnesses like depression and different types of phobias. It is still suggested that you should meet a psychologist in person if you have a severe mental illness.
