There are numerous myths about telepone counselling, some of which get raised in my trainings on the subject often enough for me to want to put them out here to see what reactions the rest of you have to them. I’ve added some commentary from my own point of view and I am hoping that others will respond with theirs. How do you respond to these? What are your answers? How would you respond to someone who believed these things (or do you believe them)?
- It’s a good way to get more men to access services
- It’s easier
- It can be done anywhere
- It can be completely confidential
- It takes less skill and less training
- It wont have the same depth
- It should be combined with F2F so the client at least has a visual image – if not, send them a photo of you at least.
I will be genuinely interested to hear your responses to these points, regardless of how experienced or otherwise you may be in the field. What do you think? Better still, what advice would you give to counsellors interested in taking on telephone work for the first time?
Stephen Goss
This blog post originally written for Online Therapy Institute March 24, 2011.
