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While telephone sex counseling is a relatively new idea, it has now entered the mainstream. In fact, a recent article in the Washington Post by Jason Fiefer ("Sex Therapy on Call", June 15, 2004) suggested that many clients are turning to anonymous phone sex therapy for help with sexual issues instead of seeking help in a clinical setting. This is understandable since, as the magazine suggested, "Clients are too ashamed or uncomfortable for in-person therapy."
The article went on to relate that some patients call for help using cell phones and while sitting in their cars. That's the attraction of telephone sex counseling-it's an approach that provides the clients with options and enhanced convenience.
This is not merely an entrepreneurial idea, suggests the Washington Post, but a new trend within the credentialed sex therapy industry. The article went on to cite statements by the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists, stating in certain terms that sex therapy was in fact growing and had been growing over a five-year period.
Thus, what many mental health professionals are suggesting, regarding telephone sex counseling, is that this new therapeutic model is an expanded and improved form of client-centered service. Indeed, it is an approach that adapts to the client's world rather than insisting that the client adapt to the therapist's world.
While some experts in the medical community debate telephone counseling's efficacy, when compared to in-person therapy, there is strong approval coming from the clientele-the most important factor in the scenario.
Most clients find this new format a welcome relief to entering an imposing medical building, sitting in the waiting room with the possibility of meeting someone they know thereby compromising their privacy.
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tova@sextherapylosangeles.com
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