Use of the Telephone in Psychotherapy

Although use of the telephone has quietly slipped into the routine of psychotherapy, this practice has gained little recognition as an important treatment tool. Once confined to crisis situations, telephone contact now serves a multitude of therapeutic functions. Its use can promote object constancy, provide a transitional space, build a working alliance with the parents of child patients, and maintain ongoing treatment when distance or other factors prevent in-person sessions. In this book, Dr. Joyce K. Aronson examines the practical, theoretical, and technical implications of the increasing use of the telephone, and identifies the rich and complex issues that emerge from such scrutiny. Creative, timely, instructive, and brimming with clinical descriptions, this eye-opening exploration of therapist-patient contact via the telephone deals with issues, answers questions, and opens new possibilities about this dimension of today's practice.