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player ready...With the dizzying demands of a jam-packed 1990s` life, how can a busy woman find time to tackle personal psychological issues?
Muriel Goldfarb, a New York psychiatric nurse and therapist, has the answer. With colleague Dan Rubenstein, a family counselor, Goldfarb has created what is believed to be the country`s first mail-order therapy practice.
No longer must you schedule a hour`s in-person encounter. Instead, the time-pressed need only go as far as a mailbox.
”They write to us on airplanes, and they dictate in a car in traffic jams,” says Goldfarb, who began the undertaking with Rubenstein when each had clients moving away who wanted to continue therapy.
The practice also is a boon to the homebound, those who live in remote areas, and those reluctant to seek in-person counseling, Goldfarb says.
They receive about 15 to 20 letters a week from all over the country and even Europe. Each client gets a return letter for a $40 fee.
But isn`t the arrangement akin to consulting an advice columnist?
”It differs totally,” Goldfarb says. ”We don`t give advice. We`re exploring options and developing a relationship with the correspondent.”
For some, the postal therapy is a transition to traditional counseling. For others, it is a mainstay, she says.
”It`s easier to say something if you`re not looking at the person. You can feel more anonymous, even though it`s a very close relationship.”
For more information: Counseling by Mail, 2109 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10023.