What is Online Counseling?

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.

We use email exchanges in our online counseling work, and may supplement them with phone sessions (if necessary or requested) at appropriate points in the process.  CLICK HERE to learn more now about how Mommy-Muse online counseling can help.

Pros & Cons of Online Counseling

Pros:

• Online counseling has a liberating effect. People feel safer, and can write about their thoughts, feelings and issues freely. This often allows them to get to the root of problems more quickly than in traditional face-to-face therapy.
   
• The exchange of emails gives you time to reflect on what you’ve written to us, and what we've said in our reply. This inherent time delay can be of great benefit in working through thoughts, feelings, decisions and beliefs.
   
• E-counseling is convenient. You can set your own pace. You can write from the comfort of your own home, and you can send us messages at any time of the day or night. In addition, you can write as often as you like, knowing that we will read everything you send, and that you will receive a reply within 24 hours. You are free to do whatever feels helpful and comforting to you. You can even send drawings or photos, or arrange a telephone session.
   
• Getting you and your baby out of the house to a face-to-face counseling session can be daunting.  Even if you live where there are no professional counselors, we're available to help you right away.
     
• Since online counseling consists of a series of email exchanges, the client and counselor both have permanent records of their “sessions.”  These saved records give both counselor and client an opportunity to review and evaluate their work together.
   
• Virtual counseling costs less than seeing a therapist or coach face-to-face. This is because we only charge for the time we actually spend reading your emails, composing replies to you, or speaking with you on the phone.

Cons:

In online therapy or phone sessions we cannot watch your facial expressions and other behavior to help us understand what you are feeling. Because of this, online counseling is NOT easy for the therapist, despite the fact that it costs the client far less than traditional therapy.

• You need to be able to put your thoughts and feelings into writing, and write about yourself in a fairly articulate way.
   
• Misunderstandings are possible.
   
• Online work is inappropriate for some clients, including: people who are currently in crisis or feel suicidal; people with serious emotional problems; people under the age of 18; people who are not able or willing to put their feelings into writing.
   
• Unlike traditional psychotherapy, online counseling cannot provide formal diagnosis and treatment.
   
• Onine counseling has only been done for a few years. It is truly pioneering work, and a bit experimental in nature.

 

For more information about therapy and counseling online, please visit The International Society for Mental Health Online http://www.ISMHO.org, of which we are members.  This non-profit organization was formed in 1997 to “promote the understanding, use and development of online communication, information and technology for the international mental health community."