An Introduction to Phone Counseling
Phone counseling takes many different forms. Since the advent of the telephone, the most simple form of phone counseling took place the first time someone offered advice or support over the phone. Nowadays, professional counseling is an evidence-based practice that people spend years to learn, through school, research, workshops, and supervision. Most professional counselors have at least a master's degree in a counseling related field. Popular degrees for counselors are: social work (MSW), master's in counseling (MA), master's in mental health counseling (MHC), and various degrees in psychology. Some professional counselors choose to further their education by pursuing doctoral degrees, and they usually have "Ph.D." behind their name. There is also an educational and licensing program specifically devoted to marriage and family therapy; licensed "Marriage and Family Therapists" usually have "LMFT" listed as part of their credentials.
Licensing of professional counselors is another important thing to be aware of. Professional counseling is a regulated practice in all 51 states. In order to practice, one must maintain licensure in their respective state. All state licenses require the necessary educational background, and they usually have supervision requirements for new counselors as well. Separate licensing bodies usually regulate the licenses for each educational background, and even those can vary from state to state. These licenses can usually be checked at the government websites for the state you live in.
Therapists who practice phone counseling, are subject to the same rules and regulations that traditional face-to-face counselors must follow. It's important to check any counselor's credentials prior to hiring them for services. All professional counselors are subject to ethical rules under their professional licensing boards. If you feel that a counselor may have violated their ethical rules, it should be reported to that counselor's licensing board. Ethical violations are taken very seriously, and they are important in protecting the public and maintaining the respect of the profession.
There are many different means of locating professional counselors. This website provides listings of phone counselors that practice using the services of a company called "Kasamba." There are many other phone counselors available though, and a good way to begin finding them is by doing a search on the internet. Google and Yahoo! are good search engines to use for finding just about anything. A search for "phone counseling" usually turns up a good list of websites who feature therapists that provide the service.