Online counselling provides an alternative to traditional face to face therapy. It can be a beneficial option for many people who have a need for counselling, but for whatever reason prefer to work online with a therapist. This could be due to work commitments, time, being poorly and unable to travel or maybe because you are anxious about meeting the counsellor. You may have difficulty talking about your thoughts and feelings face to face and would prefer to write down how you’re feeling. Since the COVID pandemic, working online has never been easier to do and now complements my face to face practice much more. Communicating online is one of the main platforms people use today, and counselling support offered this way can be very beneficial for some people.
If you like time to think and reflect you may find that online therapy can help you work through your thoughts and feelings more thoroughly than just talking about issues.
Online counselling can be done in a number of ways. One way is for you to write to me regarding your situation or problem, via a safe and encrypted email site. The benefit of this method is that it can be done in your time. There is no need for an allocated appointment – you send an email when it suits you and I will respond to you by an agreed time every week. This is known as working in asynchronous time. This way of working together slows the whole process of counselling down, allowing you time to consider issues and solutions more thoroughly.
If you prefer working in synchronous time – ‘real time’, then you may prefer to access your therapy using a chat based service such as Skype for example. This can be done using instant messenger – we will be able to exchange messages to one another. The benefit of this is that you can receive instant feedback, much like in a face to face session, as well as having time to think through what is being said, since everything is written down.
Alternatively, we can work on Teams, Zoom, Google meet, or What’s App via a webcam. We will see one another even though we will not be in the same room at the same time. This method brings in the body language and tone and pitch of your voice, which will allow me to observe you and work with your non-verbal communication.
Not all forms of online therapy are suitable for everyone, so it is important we discuss your needs before any therapy can commence.
Some clients prefer to blend face to face therapy and online therapy together. This is something we can discuss if you feel this may be beneficial.