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Telephone
Counseling and Phone Therapy with Hal Brown, LICSW
Updated:
5/25/02
 I will provide ongoing telephone therapy
to adults over the age of 21 to those who meet certain criteria.
I don't
believe phone therapy (phone counseling) is for everyone and I don't believe it is for
every problem. If the idea appeals to you, then it's likely that you are a
verbal person who doesn't necessarily need face-to-face interaction to
express yourself. It may seem obvious, but I need to state that phone
therapy isn't for people who have difficulty talking about themselves on
the phone.
I've always
been a therapist who "talks a lot" to his clients. I'm not one of those
therapists content to sit back and let my clients do the all the
talking, and whose favorite phase is "and how do you feel about that?"
So telephone therapy "works for me." Let's see, after you read about me,
and my rather long list of expectations, below, whether you think I might
be the phone therapist for you.
Something
about me:
 I received my
Masters in Social Work from Michigan State University in 1971* and have
been a psychotherapist ever since. My main salaried work experience was
with one of the best community mental health programs in the country, the
Clinton-Eaton-Ingham Community Mental Health Board headquartered in
Lansing, Michigan. I have always had a private practice along with my
salaried job.
In addition
to practicing psychotherapy, I was the supervisor of two rural mental
health centers, a clinical supervisor, and a field instructor helping to
train clinical social workers from both Michigan State University and the
University of Michigan. I've presented workshops at several state and two national conferences on a variety of
clinical topics. Articles on stress that I've written on Police Stressline
have been republished in numerous state and local law enforcement
publications.
While I have
two specialties, police and farm stress, I am in general practice where I
work not only with farmers, police and correction officers (the largest
prison in Massachusetts in 20 miles from me); but with businessmen and
women, construction and trade workers, housewives, college students, and even
techies in the electronics and computer industry.
I work with
people with anxiety, depression and relationship problems, with people who
are compulsive, irritable, and just don't like themselves that much.
I believe
therapy should be a partnership between you and I, that the basis for good
therapy is trust, and that it is my responsibility for seeing to it that
you aren't spinning you wheels fruitlessly while I sit back and wait for
you "to get it on your own," while I have a pretty good idea where you
have to go to resolve your problems.
I don't have any particular "brand" of therapy
of therapy that I practice, having discovered over
many years that it's the personality of the therapist and the connection
he or she makes with the client that dictates success or failure in
therapy. I do tend to be suspicious of any of the "therapy of the month"
flavors of treatment often touted in best selling books and by their
authors on talk shows.
You may not
always like what I have to say, but I will tell you what I think if I
believe it will be helpful.
At present I
have three "jobs," one of them unpaid, that one is editing the websites on
www.stressline.com. As you can see
from the websites, I am involved in the cranberry business, an unusual occupation for
a therapist that came about when my wife and I moved from Michigan to
Massachusetts twelve years ago to take over her family cranberry farm. So
I'm a web editor and a farmer. My
third job, and my life's work, is the practice of psychotherapy, which I
am now engaged in privately from my home office (overlooking the cranberry
bogs, see picture).
Working at
home enables me to offer phone therapy times with considerable flexibility.
 Phone
therapy can be helpful. However there are many cautions, not the least of
which is finding a competent therapist. (Click the link on the right for my
thoughts on this).
As
therapists gain more experience the list of cautions seems to grow. Here are some of
the reasons I will decline to be your phone therapist and some of my
expectations of you:
If you are
at all suicidal or at risk of hurting someone, you need to be in therapy
with a local therapist who can assess you more completely than is ever possible of
the telephone, and who has the ability to intervene appropriately to
protect you or others.
If you are
having symptoms which require the kinds of medicine your personal
physician won't prescribe, that is, those that are typically prescribed
only by psychiatrists, you should have a therapist who has working
relationships with psychiatrists in your area.
If you need
referrals to resources in your community, you should be seeing a therapist
where you live.
If you are
court referred, or have legal problems that may later require submission
of therapy documents, I will not provide phone therapy.
I have
always provided free or reduced fee services to a few clients under
special circumstances. However, I won't do this with phone therapy.
If you can't
afford my standard in-person fee of $85 for a 45-50 minute session you can
find less expensive phone therapy through a search of the web.
You pay
through PayPal in advance of each session. You can pay just before your
session, but I won't begin the session until I receive payment
confirmation from PayPal.
In most
cases sessions will be limited to 50 minutes. Unlike some therapists I
will not offer extended sessions for extra money.
Your times
to call me will be scheduled. You will be expected to call me and pay for
the phone call. If you miss a session for any reason without 24 hours
advance notice you will pay your normal fee of $85.00. I will not continue
to provide therapy if you do not first pay your missed appointment fee.
I reserve
the right to raise my fees to regular clients but only with two months
notice.
Phone
therapy is offered from 9 A.M. to a last appointment at 6:00 P.M. on
Monday through Friday.
Here's what
you can expect from me:
I will be
here when you call. I will wait ten minutes after your scheduled call
time, but no longer, unless you have paid in advance for that time. If you
have paid for the time, it is yours, so I will wait until the end of your
scheduled session.
I will
generally not respond to email questions related to therapeutic issues
because I do not at this time want to take the steps to encrypt email
messages.
I will not
charge for email or phone calls about billing, scheduling and other
similar things.
I will give
you two months notice if I raise my fees, and will never raise my fees
twice within a 12 month period. I will not raise my fees by more than $10
a year.
FAQ
Your fees
seem high? Why do you charge more than some of the other therapists
offering phone therapy?
My fee is
the going rate for highly experienced clinical social worker therapists
where I live.
How many
total
sessions do you conduct a week (for all clients)?
I feel that
I can offer the best service to my clients when I limit myself to around
twenty sessions a week. Some therapists charge less and work more. I
personally believe that, for me, if I have more than twenty or so sessions
I am short-changing the clients I work with. This is just me. I don't mean
to detract from therapists who may provide thirty or even forty sessions a
week.
What happens
when you reach twenty sessions a week?
I will start
a waiting list.
If I need
more than one session a week can you provide it?
I will do my
best.
Do you
accept insurance?
No. While I
am on the insurance panels for almost all of the insurance companies in
Massachusetts, none of these reimburse for phone therapy.
Are there
any national standards for therapists providing therapy on the phone?
No, but
states have licensing requirements for the major, recognized mental health
professions, and these professions also have national associations which
have standards for practice.
How can I
verify your credentials?
You can
check the my state licensing board or my national professional association . You can do
an online search of my name from the National Association of Social
Workers
website by clicking on "Find a Clinical Social Worker" in the left
column. Or you can see me on the State of Massachusetts licensing board's
website. The Massachusetts website lists any disciplinary actions
against social workers back to 1993.
Are our
sessions confidential?
Yes.
Do you keep
notes?
Yes.
However, these are minimal.
Can I see a
copy of your notes on our sessions?
Yes, but to
assure the safety of communication I will mail this to you rather than use
email.
Will you
send my record to another healthcare professional?
Yes, but
you'll need to send me a letter in the regular mail authorizing this. I
cannot do this with online permission alone.
If I am able
to see you in person on occasion, can I?
Yes.
Is phone
therapy new?
No. It's
been around for at least thirty years. However, it hasn't come into
widespread use until popularized on the Internet, which also made it possible for people from all
over to "shop" for therapists. (See Grumet, G. (1979). Telephone
Therapy: A Review and Case Report. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry,
49, 574-84.)
What do I do
if I want to set up an initial session?
Call me at
508 947-5601, or email me at
[email protected]. Tell me
something about yourself and what your problem is. If it sounds like
something I feel I can help you with through phone therapy, I will set up
a time for you to call again for a session. If not I will briefly explain why and if
possible, offer other alternatives. Please put "phone therapy" in the
Subject line if you use email.
What is the
difference between counseling, psychotherapy, and all the other similar
terms?
The terms
counseling, therapy and psychotherapy (and hence telephone counseling and
phone psychotherapy) and are often used interchangeably. Some mental
health clinicians consider counseling to be more educative than
psychotherapy, which they consider to be more in depth. The word therapy
alone can be confusing because there are numerous types of non-mental
health therapy, such as physical therapy and occupational therapy. However
in general usage, the phrase "I'm in therapy" still seems to refer to
psychotherapy.
Is there a
difference between a client and a patient and why are both terms used?
The use of
the term client as a person who was undergoing counseling or psychotherapy
seems to date back to 1951 when a psychologist named Carl Rogers
popularized this usage in a book called Client-Centered Therapy. He
wanted to move away from the medical model and empower the people he
counseled, so he apparently decided to call them clients rather than
patients because patients were often viewed as something less than
partners in problem solving with their physicians. Basically, however, the
words can be used interchangeably.
Who can
legally call themselves a counselor or psychotherapist?
State laws
defines the names that health professionals can call themselves. In
general, the terms counselor and psychotherapist are not covered by law,
while names specific to licensed professions are. For example, only a
psychologist who is licensed and only a social worker who is licensed can
refer to themselves with these terms. There are generally varying levels
of licensure. Minimally these connote whether the individual is licensed
to practice independently or must be under the supervision of someone with
a high level license.
* and my BA
in Psychology, also from Michigan State in 1969 |