How does Coaching by Phone help people with alcohol and drug problems?

Traditionally, psychotherapy sessions took place in a therapist’s office, with the patient lying on a couch, looking at the ceiling, while the therapist, pen and notebook in hand, nods and occasionally mutters, “I see. How does that make you feel?”

This process could go on for years.

Not any more. Coaching by Phone brings the expert help you need right to your home.

Psychotherapy by phone is now standard practice, especially as more people search for help on the Internet and find the expertise they need outside of their hometown.

Therapists like the change, too, because they know that telephone sessions can be even more productive than in-person sessions.

Coaching by Phone gives you complete anonymity.

Dr. Marc F. Kern, a licensed psychotherapist and addiction alternatives specialist in Los Angeles, “sees” many of his clients by telephone.

Even patients who could easily drive to his office often prefer telephone coaching for unprecedented privacy and true anonymity — in sharp contrast to the unwelcome and humiliating exposure of 12-step meetings, where attendees suddenly find themselves sitting next to a neighbor, co-worker, or boss.

Dr. Kern’s Confidentiality and Privacy Policy

The difference between coaching and psychotherapy

Patients in traditional psychotherapy spend more time trying to understand the historical reasons for their current behavior, a slow process that can take months or years of weekly therapy sessions. People who are struggling with life-threatening addictions and problem behaviors need help now. Dr. Kern understands the urgency of your situation.

Coaching means ACTION!

When Dr. Kern coaches you, he focuses on helping you change the behaviors that are jeopardizing your health, happiness, and relationships at work and with your loved ones. He will show you the best, cutting-edge techniques that you can begin using immediately.

Dr. Kern has an encyclopedic knowledge of a wide spectrum of non-12-step, alcohol and drug treatment tools that can help you manage your moods and behavior without reaching for your favorite substance. Whether the tools are behavioral techniques, medications, or non-12-step support groups, Dr. Kern will explain the pro’s and con’s of each “treatment tool” so that you can decide for yourself which strategy is best for you.

The evidence is growing.

Dr. Kern’s positive experiences with his clients with telephone coaching are supported by growing clinical evidence from other therapists, counselors, and psychiatrists.

A New York Times article, New Therapy on Depression Finds Phone Is Effective, by Benedict Carey (August 25, 2004), quotes a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association. In a large-scale, 18-month study, doctors in Seattle found that they could significantly increase recovery rates for patients taking antidepressants by providing several 30- to 40-minute counseling sessions over the phone.

In previous studies, researchers showed that supportive phone calls from nurses or other clinic staff members help people trying to quit smoking, stay on medication or shake low moods. The Seattle study is the first to test the effect of a standardized form of counseling, cognitive behavior therapy, delivered entirely over the phone.

Dr. Kern is trained and certified in the cognitive behavior therapy approach to alcohol and drug treatment, a proven alternative to AA, NA, GA or any other 12-step approach.

What you can accomplish by phone

While the list is really endless, here are examples of help and insights you can gain:

• A professional opinion at your fingertips about treatment options appropriate to the severity of your condition

• Immediate answers about an urgent problem

• Time-saving shortcuts which will spare you from “trial and error” learning or searching for the information yourself

• Referrals to a local detoxification and/or treatment center and therapists who practice the addiction alternatives or non-12-step or Harm Reduction philosophy

• Referrals to local physicians who can prescribe medications for cravings, depression, anxiety, withdrawal, and other mood problem

• Recommendations for non-12-step addiction alternative methods or complementary methods for addressing your problems with alcohol, drugs and other excessive behaviors

• Personalized motivational coaching as needed-to pull you out of a slump or a period of stagnation

• Help with devising an effective action strategy for motivating and propelling your loved one toward addressing their addictions

• HALO Method (Helping a Loved One)

• Specific skills for identifying your blind spots that lead to repetition of your self-destructive behaviors

• The newest, evidence-based answers to some old questions

• Recommendations about the best books, tapes and videos on addiction recovery

• Significantly increase your chance of success through personalized help with a carefully planned Strategy for Recovery

• Insights about the pro’s and con’s of “Abstinence versus Moderation” and other difficult and controversial goals for recovery

• A friendly, empathic sounding board if you relapse-along with action strategies to turn things around as quickly as possible

• In case of emergency, the first place to turn to for rational advice

• Recommendations about when a physician should be consulted about medications, detoxification or the possible need for hospitalization

• On-going monitoring and encouragement about your progress. This could include regular drug testing, if you wish

• Objective, non-moralistic person you can be accountable to in order to help you maintain motivation and progress toward your goals

• A relationship with someone who will speak on your behalf with family members

• Advice about what to say to people who stubbornly believe that A.A. is the only option that works

Get an idea of how Coaching by Phone works… See “Initial 15min Consult” at the right >