By Dr. Patricia Carrington

If you are wondering.  “Where can I possibly find an EFT therapist where I live?” –– or if you are an EFT practitioner –– you will be interested in my answer to this question.

If you are in a quandary about this, I suggest that you seriously consider telephone therapy with a qualified EFT practitioner, as the majority of EFT practitioners throughout the world now offer telephone therapy. Why is this so?

The answer is that telephone EFT sessions are becoming popular because EFT practitioners find that they are every bit as effective as in-person sessions in most instances, and in certain instances they may be even more effective (I’ll speak about this in a moment.) 

Benefits of telephone sessions:

 ■ Telephone EFT sessions greatly extend the number of qualified EFT practitioners available to you.  Seeking a therapist who can work by phone allows you to select from a much wider list of EFT practitioners, including sometimes some of the acknowledged leaders in the field. 

 ■ Telephone sessions provide considerable savings in terms of time and cost of traveling and give you much greater flexibility of scheduling.  Many people find it of great benefit to be able to schedule an EFT session in their own home rather than having to travel to another location and for that reason alone prefer them.  I work with some clients who live at a distance of more than 45 minutes (by car) from be, certainly a drivable distance, but who prefer to schedule most of their sessions by phone.

 ■ Telephone sessions tend to improve concentration on the issue at hand. They often and result in a greater focus than is possible in an office where many visual distractions can occur.  Visual distractions of any kind are entirely absent when the session is on the phone, unless the client’s own environment is a disruptive one.  I do not encourage clients to be using EFT on the phone while caring for a demanding infant at the same time – it just doesn’t work!  Again, some clients prefer phone sessions because they feel that the intensity of rapport between themselves and their practitioner is greater when the EFT session is conducted over the phone.

 ■ The fact that the EFT session occurs in the client’s own home (or another familiar environment) can result in greater generalization of its effects to their everyday life.  Often EFT seems to carry over into their everyday life more readily and they can put it to work immediately after they have tapped on an issue in their own home.

How are phone sessions conducted?

 ■ Usually the client telephones the therapist at their own expense and the tapping is done while the client holds the phone with one hand and taps with the other, or uses a speakerphone.  Sometimes the client has to lie on a couch or bed with the phone propped up on their shoulder to do this, however clients rarely report difficulty tapping while talking on the phone.  If they do, they put down the phone temporarily, tap, and then resume talking to the practitioner.

 ■ Telephone sessions are typically paid for by credit card at the time of the appointment or directly following it or by a check sent to the practitioner before the appointment.  Some people through PayPal (see discussion below of this option.) Telephone sessions cost exactly the same as office visits since they require the same investment of time and the same degree of expertise on the part of the practitioner.

Limitations of Phone Sessions

 ■ A few number of people dislike talking over the phone, or cannot for some other reason (e.g. speech problems, physical weakness or infirmity, etc.)

 ■ Some issues are difficult to treat over the phone (e.g. ADD or ADHD, certain depressions, and the like).  Even practitioners who work over the telephone for most issues, may insist upon seeing the client in person for other issues.

 ■ Generally insurance carriers will not cover therapy sessions conducted over the telephone even though many professional organizations, such as the American Psychological Association, now recognize the value of telephone therapy and have created guidelines for it.  NOTE: When considering the lack of insurance coverage, notice that a course of EFT is often much briefer than that of conventional talk therapy thereby saving money in the long run.

 ■ Clients may occasionally forget a scheduled telephone session because there has been no elaborate preparations to travel to an office.  For this reason most EFT practitioners charge for the missed telephoned sessions unless there is an emergency reason for it.

Recommendations:

If you are considering telephone therapy but are not sure if it's for you, I advice you to schedule one or two actual paid telephone sessions with a practitioner of your choice.  Consider these “trial sessions” although you may well benefit from them at the same time.  You may be surprised at how convenient and effective they will be for you.  At that point you may want to join the growing family of EFT-by-phone people.

Also see:  Selecting an EFT Practitioner (Free e-Book Download)