Telephone therapy can help children, adolescents or adults receive therapy from a therapist over the phone. If you can’t attend therapy in person every week, telephone therapy or counselling is an effective and convenient option, as there are no geographical restrictions.
If you are adjusting to recent life events, dealing with issues like depression, trauma and anxiety, or need some help with work or relationships issues choosing phone counselling can help.
When you start therapy it is important that you are comfortable with the therapist you are talking to and that they are a licensed, experienced mental health practitioner. For example, all of the telephone therapists on the Harley Therapy platform are registered members of a UK professional body. This means that they have completed suitably rigorous training to gain registration with a professional membership body and that they are accountable to their membership bodies regulations and codes of practice.
If you choose to find telephone therapists from a different counselling service, you may wish to check that they are qualified members of a professional association if the website does not state its acceptance criteria for therapists, since unfortunately there are no laws to prevent anyone from calling themselves a ‘phone counsellor’ or a ‘phone psychotherapist’ in the UK at present. You can find out more about how to prepare for a first session here.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge together and the National Institute for Health Research has found telephone counselling to be as effective as face-to-face therapy. Some of the benefits of phone counselling include:
You can talk to your therapist from whichever location you prefer, as long as it is quiet and private. This means that if it is difficult for you to attend a therapist appointment every week in person due to work commitments, frequently travel, mobility issues or other reasons, you can still talk to a counsellor over the phone.
Meeting over the phone means that your physical identity is protected, which may be important for you (although all therapists are bound by confidentiality and the ethical guidelines of their professional body).
In some areas, you may find that there is not a therapist who specialises in the approach or with the issues that you would like to work on. In these cases, phone counselling is a great alternative to be able to talk to a therapist based further afield, since there are no geographical constraints.
You can save time without travelling to therapy sessions and in some cases money that would be spent on travel.
If you don't feel satisfied with your first session for any reason, we'll offer you a session with an alternative therapist at our expense.
Just complete the form and one of our team will be in touch with you:
Like other forms of therapy, you will have an initial consultation with your therapist to talk about your situation and the issues you are currently facing. Your phone therapist should be qualified in the same way that a face-to-face therapist is and they will listen and talk to you about how they feel they could best work with you.
It is important to check before your appointment that you have the telephone number of your therapist and to bear in mind that you will need to make the phone call.
All of the phone therapists on the Harley Therapy platform are experienced, qualified therapists who are committed and dedicated to their work. To find and book the best telephone therapist for you, you can use our search page to find a therapist in minutes to talk to by phone here.
Filter our qualified, professional and vetted therapists by cost, location, availability and approach so you can find and book the best therapist or counsellor for you here.
