Online Therapy

Counseling Online Comes Of Age

On-line therapy was a logical step in the world of psychological intervention. Impossible before the age of computers, and the Internet it has several historical precursors.

Almost every pioneer of therapy at some time communicated with his, or her, patients using letters. Indeed skilled letter writing was once such a common practice amongst professionals such as social workers that the therapeutic gains, or losses, of letters are taken for granted by most.

Freud Maintained Written Contact With Patients Long Before On-line Therapy

The same held true for telephone conversations. An ill timed, or ill advised, remark by a mental health practitioner could set a patient’s progress back immediately. Skillful use of telephones have been proven to save lives, over and over again. This is, of course, the traditional medium of the Samaritans, and other help-line services, that provide solace and guidance for those in urgent need of help.

In many ways e-mails are similar to posted letters. Indeed the very terminology used to describe e-mail is based upon an analogy with the real-world postal system. Communication is faster, it’s true, but all the other disadvantages of real world mail are present.

Disadvantages Of On-line Therapy

Just as in the case of a real letter that gets lost in the post, an e-mail may not arrive at its destination. It might be intercepted by a SPAM filter, or an inquisitive System Manager, were you unwise enough to engage in counseling via a computer on your employer’s network.

The Convenience Of On-line Counseling

Despite these problems more and more people are engaging in counseling via e-mail. Quite simply it’s more convenient than going to a therapist’s office and there are several other advantages.

Relationship Counselling Online Now A Possibility

E-mail, however, may not be the best choice for those seeking on-line counseling. Why choose a system that lacks immediacy when two alternatives are available?

One reason is that an e-mail can be written at any time of the day, or night. You can get your problem’s “off your chest” without the need to book a prior appointment. You have to wait for a reply, of course, but ventilating feelings onto the computer screen may help you immediately, especially in the early days of contact with your on-line therapist.

From the therapist’s standpoint the e-mail provides an opportunity to craft an informed message. Many therapist worked this way in the past using letters. Michael White, and David Epston, who founded a school called ‘Narrative Therapy’, are notable examples.

Such e-mails, or letters, take time to write if they are to be fully effective.

E-mails may be combined with video attachments that are specially crafted by your therapist to provide you with a therapeutic message.

A video has similarities with e-mail, the difference is that, rather than writing a message, your counselor records a special video for the client. This may be a ‘talking head’, or a text presentation made in similar ways to those used in seminars and lectures.

More immediate on-line media are the text chat, and video conferencing.

Most of us are familiar with text chat. Someone types into a box on a computer screen, or even their mobile telephone, and this is exchanged with replies from their therapist in what is nearly real time.

A Precursor To On-line Therapy

This process may seem unattractive as an option but there is some evidence to support it’s efficacy. Between 1964 and 1966 Joseph Weizenbaum, a German-American author and professor emeritus of computer science at MIT, wrote a script called DOCTOR for a computer program named ELIZA.

Chat Bots Such As ELIZA Aren’t True On-line Counseling Solutions

The program simulated, rather imperfectly, responses that seemed to have come from a Rogerian Counselor. Weizenbaum, and his colleagues, were astounded to discover that his program was taken seriously by many users, who would open their hearts to it. He started to think philosophically about the implications of Artificial Intelligence and later became one of its leading critics.

As he later pointed out we should never allow computers to make important decisions because computers will always lack human qualities such as compassion  and wisdom. These are, of course, two core qualities that most seek when searching for a counselor, or therapist.

Nevertheless the fact that many were engaged by simple text messages on a computer screen highlights the potential for the method.

Up To Date Online Therapy

Video conferencing is the method most similar to meeting your therapist in her, or his, office. The communication occurs in real time and, unlike psychoanalysis,  it’s possible to see the reaction of your therapist. She, or he, also is able to see and hear you, if you have an inexpensive web-cam and microphone plus some free software.

“An Online Counselling Service That Gives Us The
Freedom To Get Help When, And Where, We Need It.”

A few sceptics will argue that problems due to bandwidth, or server capacity, may interfere with the ability to connect with your therapist at a predefined on-line appointment time. Whilst this may occasionally be true people also encounter emergencies in the ‘real world’. Car’s breaking down, traffic, or even bad weather can delay people, causing them to break appointments.

On the other hand your on-line therapist is available in the comfort of your own home, or any venue where you may be confident that your network connection is secure.

An on-line therapist is far more likely to be able to provide you with a full hour of her, or his, time even if you start half an hour late because of problems outside of your control. Maybe you will start late, or perhaps they can reschedule you some time later the same day?

No one will see you as you enter Dr. B’s office, prompting gossip about how you may be coping at work, or at the state of your marriage.

Moreover, if you live in a rural area, this may be your only means to access qualified counseling help.

Irem Bray On-line Psychologist and Family Therapist

It happens that I live on a Mediterranean beach with my husband and small child. Unlike a city based therapist I no longer have to struggle through the smog and traffic and arrive at an office stressed and half dead before listening to your concerns.

“Let Me Help You To Resolve Your Problems And
Achieve Your Goals In Life.”

Which kind of therapist would you prefer to treat you? One of those who rent offices and treat the work as a nine to five job with all the disadvantages that it entails? The alternative available thanks to Internet technology is one of the thousands of on-line counselors who work from comfortable bases and  choose their own hours. These professionals have both the time and resources to be connected to colleagues in the profession because they can travel to conferences easily without having to interrupt the ways they routinely connect with those whom they serve.

Like it, or not, the world is changing. City based therapy is expensive, time consuming, and frequently inconvenient. Office, or hospital, based therapy is essential for those requiring medication, or suffering with life threatening illnesses, such as anorexia or a chronic delusional psychosis.

For many, however, counseling and therapy on-line is a proven and preferable alternative.