Phone Therapy: A Guide for Practitioners Working with Voice Alone

158 Pages·2022·9.572 MB·English

by  Sarah Hart

‘This is an excellent resource, providing counselling and psychotherapy practi-
tioners with a comprehensive guide to working safely, ethically, effectively and
creatively with clients over the phone. I can’t recommend this resource highly
enough to existing phone therapists and to those who are considering working in
this way’.
– Caroline Jesper, BACP Head of Professional Standards
‘Sarah’s book is an accessible and detailed read, suitable for both experienced
therapists and trainees. I particularly like the way she interviewed therapists from
different theoretical orientations. As hybrid ways of working are now a part of
many therapists’ working life, this book feels like an essential read for all’.
– Rachel Golding, MBACP Senior Accred. Programme
Tutor at The Counselling Foundation

Phone Therapy
Phone therapy is as relevant as it was 50 years ago. The increased use of this
medium during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the revision of professional therapy
body guidance, has endorsed the validity and effectiveness of phone therapy.
The book updates, revises and reinvigorates the medium for individual thera-
pists, counselling services and training organisations in a post-lockdown world,
where blended therapy is the norm. It includes practical considerations, phone-
related theory, personal experience and self-reflection exercises. Contributing
counsellor vignettes cover topics such as adapting theoretical modalities and EDI
considerations without visual cues. From assessments, contracting and core skills
to assumptions, disinhibition and privacy issues, it supports therapists and coun-
selling organisations to embrace the accessibility, flexibility and creativity that
therapy by phone provides.
Relevant for experienced and trainee therapists alike, this book provides practi-
tioners with the support and knowledge to confidently use phone therapy in their
practice.
Sarah Hart is a BACP-accredited therapist and supervisor, providing phone ther-
apy supervision to therapists working for phone-delivered therapy services. She
works in private practice for a charity and provides group supervision in a face-
to-face setting. She has provided phone therapy for 14 years and phone therapy
training for 11 years.

Phone Therapy
A Guide for Practitioners Working
with Voice Alone
Sarah Hart
Cover image: © Getty Images
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2023 Sarah Hart
The right of Sarah Hart to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-1-032-18201-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-18199-8 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-25339-6 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003253396
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
This book is dedicated to my husband Simon Richards,
who listens deeply.
Listen thrice, think twice, speak once.
–Anonymous

Contents
Preface xii
Acknowledgements xv
1 You can trust what you hear 1
Hearing is our fastest sense 2
What is hearing exactly? 2
So how do we hear? 3
The pathway of sound 3
Frequency, amplitude and the soundtrack of Jaws 4
Sudden noise and misophonia 4
Silence and heightened arousal 5
Hearing is always switched on 5
Theories of selective attention 6
The Cocktail Party Effect 6
‘Halfalogues’ 7
Hebbrian plasticity 7
How we manage degraded sound 7
Human sound, emotion and the therapeutic relationship 8
2 Phone therapy uncovered 10
The setting 10
How helplines differ from phone therapy 11
Limitations and benefits of phone therapy 12
Phone therapy’s greatest attributes 13
Main differences between phone and face-to-face therapy 17
3 Communication and core phone therapy skills 20
Non-verbal communication and paralanguage 20
The therapist’s voice 23
The effective therapeutic phone alliance 24