Empower your life with up-to-date information through my RSS feed. Thank you!
On the e-therapy special episode of The Mommy-Muse Is In, Linda Semrau shared some powerful reasons why online counseling is an essential tool in postpartum adjustment. Here are the advantages you need to know about now:
· New research shows that not only is e-counseling effective, it is sometimes even more effective than in person counseling, even for building rapport between the counselor and client.
· Many studies have shown that client/counselor rapport means more to counseling success than perhaps anything else. There is just no substitute for a positive, caring, and non-threatening environment in which the counselor focuses on the perspective of the client. Getting into sync with another person may be the single most important aspect of the counseling relationship, and e-therapy facilitates this.
· The counselor is always available. Instead of waiting for a weekly or bi-weekly session, the client can communicate to her counselor any time. She can send a message while she is in the middle of a problem. She also has unlimited amounts of time to detail her story by email. She is never limited by the fifty-minute hour. There is no actual “end” to a conversation, so she can feel continually in dialog with the counselor.
· There is no social stigma for the client because she will not be seen by members of her community at the counseling office. She is not likely to ever encounter her counselor in public.
· E-counseling provides the new mom with a greater selection of therapists to choose from. She can look outside of her local area for someone who specializes in postpartum issues. It’s accessible to moms who just can’t get themselves to an office, or don’t want to.
· An increased sense of safety can help clients let down their normal in-person defenses, and to express themselves more fully. People are more easily able to say the most difficult things in an email that might talk much longer to get to when they are sitting face-to-face with a counselor.
· Counseling time is not spent on small talk, only on counseling issues. The therapist or counselor only charges for the time spent reading and responding to email. This makes email counseling much more economical than in person counseling.
· A bonus that people may not realize is that the clients can save and reflect on their writings regarding their feelings, their resolutions, and their commitments. Getting new associations and insights down in writing often can be a big help. With in person sessions, a client might speak for an hour and not reach the heart of a matter. In writing, when she has been thinking about what she is going to say first, she can often communicate more in one sentence than in a whole hour in the counseling office. Then, she is able to save the counselor’s comments, guidance, and advice and have that to keep, since it is in writing.
For more insight and information about online counseling, go to How We Can Help, and be sure to check out Is Virtual Therapy Right For You!
-
Top Stress Management Tips for Moms: Part One Do you find that you are spending far more energy attending to other people's needs than to your own? Perhaps you need effective strategies that will allow you to access extra reserves of patience while navigating trying times. Personally, I woke up recently and realized I had been neglecting my...... -
Is Virtual Therapy Right for You? Online therapy, email therapy, virtual therapy, cyber-counseling, e-therapy: they all refer to therapy or counseling using the internet, most often by email. Online counseling is a powerful tool for helping people to gain insight and resolve the problems that interfere with the quality of their lives. Therapists typically use email...... -
Stress Management for the Holidays Just for you today, some fresh ideas on staying sane during the holidays. I know some of you who adore this time of year, and I love hearing from you. Keep sending me your favorite ways to thrive instead of just survive this time of year! For the rest of...... -
The Mother's Dilemma: Should You Take Time for Yourself? You may think it's more important to tend constantly to the needs of other people rather than yourself. This appears at first glance to be the selfless, even saintly, way to behave. Aren't mothers supposed to put the needs of their family first? The truth of the matter...... -
Get Ready to Dissolve: The Power of Your Personal Metamorphosis Martha Beck shared her Steering by Starlight wisdom on a recent The Mommy-Muse Is In interview. We talked about the stages involved with finding your right life, the first of which is dissolving. Are you ready to learn exactly what we dissolve when we begin this process? Here is Martha's......
