| Online counsellor Choosing an online counsellor 1. Is the counsellor properly trained, not only as a counsellor but also to work online? (See About Me page for my qualifications) Most counsellors list their counselling training qualifications somewhere on their website. If they don't, you can email them to ask what training they have completed in order to work as a counsellor. Have they received additional, specialised training to work online? Counsellors who have received such training will tell you about it and how you can check this out. 2. Do they belong to a professional accrediting or registering body? Are they listed on a professional register or can their credentials be checked out by visiting another website? (See About Me page for my qualifications) Most counsellors will describe their professional or regulating body on their website and if their credentials can be checked out, they should include a link to the website of this body. It's up to you to follow that link (or visit the website yourself) and check that what they are claiming for themselves is true. 3. Do I understand enough about them and how they work, from their website? Has the counsellor given you a sufficient picture of how they work? If not, ask. Most counsellors are happy to answer questions before an agreement to work together is set up. 4. Do I trust them with my personal thoughts and feelings? You are preparing to reveal vulnerable parts of yourself to a complete stranger. It is important that you trust they will treat your writing with respect and respond to it without judging you. As you read the different pages of a website you will be forming an opinion about the person behind it and you can ask yourself if you believe they are trustworthy before contacting them. If everything they claim for themselves checks out and you feel you can trust them, then you are probably ready to go to the next stage of setting up an arrangement to work together - but you may want to take the next point into consideration as well. 5. Do I like their website?s it clear, informative and easy to find your way around? If it is, then working with that counsellor is also likely to be clear. Do you understand the language they use? If you do, then working with that counsellor may be easily understandable. What is online counselling? Instead of talking about your problems with a counsellor, you write about them. This can be a more useful way of working for someone who has to make complicated arrangements to meet with a counsellor in person or who finds it difficult to speak about their problems. There is a written record of each counselling ‘session' which you can read again. Although working like this can feel lonely (you are not in a room together) it does feel like a joint effort. By sharing your thoughts and feelings with a counsellor you are building a relationship with them and no longer managing things all on your own. Your counsellor will offer you their respect and support without judging you. The counsellor will encourage you to explore the situations that are causing you a problem and help you to focus on what exactly is wrong. You can then look with your counsellor for new ways of understanding them and problem-solving perhaps by challenging them, or changing how you deal with them in the future. If you would like to discuss how online counseling might help you, please send me an email: Is it confidential and private? Encryption My professional body (BACP) strongly recommend that all counselling work is encrypted. I use skype for live sessions as it encrypts our messages so they cannot be read if they are intercepted between my computer and yours. We can either use text chat (discreet if you're not in a private room) or audio/webcam for these sessions. You can create an email address just for counselling with an encrypted webmail server such as safe-mail.net or hushmail.com (both are free for personal users). You can also store your emails on their server rather than on your computer. At the end of our counselling you may want to transfer the emails to a password protected folder on your computer or you can simply move forward in your life and delete the emails from the server. Computer privacy and safety If you are sharing a computer or using a workplace computer or have curious friends or relatives who read what's on your computer you could use a portable flash drive (a USB drive); or a memory stick; or an external hard drive to store counselling emails - some of these can also be encrypted and protected with a password. Email counselling However, you don't receive my response to your email immediately, I normally take between 24 and 48 hours to send my reply. Many clients have reported that once they've sent me an email they feel unburdened, knowing I will respond within an agreed period of time. You have to manage emotionally painful feelings on your own. One-off ('instant') Emails Starting email counselling Live sessions and counselling Some clients have reported that because we exchange fewer words overall in an hour when we are typing, this helps them to select what to bring to our session. The result is that we often achieve as much, if not more in an online counselling session than we might face to face. Again there is a written record of the session so they can be re-read. You can save your session transcripts either on the skype server or by copying/pasting them into a word document on your computer (perhaps in a password protected folder). Clients who do read their sessions through have reported that this was helpful as they sometimes found additional meaning when they re-read the transcript. One slight disadvantage of live session counselling by text is that you need to be comfortable typing on a keyboard you could become anxious if you are struggling to get your words down. The disadvantages of live session counselling by webcam/audio is that the picture is still fairly poor quality and can pixelate (fragment) or freeze during a session, sometimes returning within a few seconds, sometimes taking minutes to reappear, this can be disconcerting and interfere with the session. Occasionally, there are technology breakdowns which prevent a session taking place or interrupt a session. When these happen, we follow an emergency procedure which has previously been agreed. Starting live session counselling When the time comes for your session you will see I am available on skype, waiting for you to contact me when you're ready to begin. If I can see you on skype and you haven't made contact within 5 minutes I will contact you by sending you a skype text message. At the end of our session we agree the day/time of the next session and continue in this way until we agree to end our meetings. Agreement and Before We Begin Forms
What does it cost? 1 Email from me(of at least one page) £30 Or up to 4 emails from me in one week (Mon-Fri) £90 (I respond to every email from you within 24 hours during an agreed week). Please Note: To gain maximum therapeutic benefit, we need to be in regular contact and packages of emails are most effective when completed by the times below. I will charge for time spent re-reading to refresh my memory if there has been a break of more than one month. 3-email packages should be completed within one month 1 Live session (one hour) (text/audio/webcam) £45 I accept payment in £ sterling through Google Checkout or internet bank transfer. I also accept sterling cheques through the UK post (ask me for details). How do I begin?
Not everyone wants to go through the process of filling in forms before receiving a counselling reply. So on my website there are two possible routes for you to choose from - the route outlined above or the One-off Email route described below which does not require an agreement to be made beforehand. One-off emails are particularly suitable if your problem only affects a part of your life and you are looking for new ways to deal with it. Please follow these steps if you want to use this route.
I will send you a 500-word reply within 48 hours of receiving your email and payment. top of page |
Site last updated 14.03.11