Online therapy frees you from the need to attend a consulting room which may be some distance from where you live. Online counselling can be conducted in the comfort of your own home, and means that you can schedule a session to fit in with your other commitments such as work, childcare or other roles that may form part of your daily routine.
If you have a particular need, and are seeking a specialist experienced in assisting people with a specific difficulty, it doesn’t matter where you are located in relation to the practitioner. It is also useful when you are wanting to access a native English-
Online therapy is more private, and means that you can access support discreetly without the need to ‘broadcast’ the fact that you are attending counselling if you’d rather not. There are no waiting rooms to sit in, no parking problems to contend with and – with an online booking system – you can schedule your next appointment when it’s convenient, quickly and easily from your computer or smartphone.
Online therapy is not just ‘face-
Research carried out by Dr. John Suler in 2004 suggests that we all behave differently when interacting online, and there is plenty of evidence showing that people are bolder and less restrained when communicating over the Internet. This disinhibition is often blamed for incidents where people treat each other poorly, perhaps heavily criticising or even attacking another person via social media, for instance. The disinhibition effect can however have a positive angle, and this is where online therapy comes in.
Often people engage more openly, and share more readily, when in an online relationship compared with a traditional, face-
Handled correctly, the phenomenon of online disinhibition can work for the client; handled incorrectly, the effect can work against the client and their progress in therapy. Rob is not only fully online trained, but worked for several years as a tutor at a major online counselling training provider, teaching other counsellors how best to use their therapeutic skills safely, ethically and effectively over the Internet.
As the world becomes ever more connected, the benefits of engaging online are obvious. People are able to connect with friends and family across the globe, staying in touch with loved ones no matter where they are in the world. Bills can be paid, services delivered and entertainment accessed, all with the push of a button or the swipe of a finger. Younger people are sometimes referred to as ‘digital natives’, growing up as they have done with the technology required to maintain a life online. Older people, who remember a ‘pre-
Many Millennials and members of ‘Gen Z’ are comfortable nowadays engaging with services via instant messaging (text) chat or email, and these can be really effective ways of engaging therapeutically without the need to use a webcam connection. Here, the ability to save a copy of what has been discussed can be of great use, as the transcript of an online counselling session can be revisited after the session has ended. Ashwood Therapy provides counselling for adult clients aged 18 years and older.
Online counselling is accessible to all. A laptop, desktop or tablet computer, or smartphone, is all that is needed. Connecting with Ashwood Therapy is straight-
In some instances, online working is unsuitable. If you are at risk of self-