Telephone Therapy

[Anonymous]

My current therapist just started maternity leave & her colleague will be substituting for her the next four months.

So far, she seems to prefer doing therapy via the phone and it just feels weird to me, discussing my personal issues on the telephone w/someone I haven’t met face to face with yet.

I am older (56) so this may be a generational thing.
I would just like to see who I am conversing with at least once.

Am I weird?

[Anonymous]

Can you ask to do zoom/google meet?

[Anonymous]

Yes, the combo of no face plus new person is not ideal, and honestly therapists should be the first people to understand this. A new person needs to show their face to you to establish trust. Only then can you transition to phones.

[Anonymous]

I think therapists who rely on only phone appointments are lazy.
The therapist should offer different options to their patients and then let the patient decide what they want to do.
But yes I would find it really odd to do therapy with someone I had never seen before. I am surprised your therapist doesn’t realize this.

[Anonymous]

I found with Zoom meetings for work I had trouble focusing and I did better when I shut off the camera and listened. I don't want to look at myself.

[Anonymous]

Ask for a personal meeting initially. If the therapist does not seem interested in an initial direct session then I would look for another one.
A face-to-face intake interview is usually done first.

[Anonymous]

She may have health issues or other reasons but ask for someone else.

[Anonymous]

I only do phone calls for logistics or urgent/unusual circumstances. I do a fair amount of virtual therapy over video calls. It's important to see clients' expressions when I'm working with them. I would address this with the therapist and if she can't accommodate you, it's ok to ask for referrals to someone who can.