What is online counselling?
Online counselling gives you the opportunity to access counselling support at a time and in a place which is convenient to you without needing to travel to a specific location.
It is time set aside in a private space to explore what is happening in your life. This might include talking about life events (past, present, future), feelings, emotions, relationships, ways of thinking and patterns of behaviour.
It can be a chance to look at coping strategies, relaxation techniques or general tools to help you feel more in control of yourself and your life. Coming to counselling can feel difficult and sometimes people say they don’t feel good for a period of time after a session; but therapy can be helpful when feeling painful emotions, facing difficult decisions, in order to improve or change relationships, or to help in developing a better understanding of yourself and/or others.
At its’ core, the aim of counselling is to help you improve your mental and emotional health.
Options for Meeting online
We use Zoom software for web or voice meetings (unless we agree to use telephone). If you are using a PC or laptop you won’t need to download any software, just click the link that is sent to you. If you use a mobile phone for web or voice, you will be prompted to install the Zoom App for free.
Webcam – an appointment day & time is agreed, the meeting is held in a secure online room that only you and the counsellor has access to. You will be able to see and hear the counsellor.
Voice only – an appointment day & time is agreed, the meeting is held in a secure online room that only you and the counsellor has access to. If you prefer, instead of using Zoom, you can use the telephone for voice sessions.
If for any reason there are technical issues experienced during a ‘real time’ appointment, the counsellor will try to re-connect with you using pre-agreed contacts.
eMail – an appointment day & time is agreed for when you will receive an email response from your counsellor, you will be asked to email them 2 days before this so they have time to reply thoroughly. This kind of counselling can be helpful if you feel that talking directly to someone is difficult, you find it hard to express yourself in spoken words or you prefer to express yourself in writing. For email counselling, we recommend using a secure account from protonmail. This is a free service. The counsellor can talk to you about this in more detail, if you are interested in this style of counselling.
Online safety
Nobody can offer a guaranteed 100% security on any online platform but the online platforms that we use have many safety protocols integrated into its’ platform to try and ensure internet safety. These are the protocols we have in place:
- All meeting rooms online are password protected, this password is only shared with the client and never on any social media platforms.
- We operate an online waiting room so we are in control of who can enter a Zoom room. Unless we authorise entrance, the room remains closed off.
- Once online with your counsellor, they will ‘lock’ the Zoom room which is effectively like putting a bolt on a door, so nobody is able to hack into the session.
We have been using Zoom for a while in 1:1 work without any problems or intrusions.
What do people say about online counselling?
“I am so grateful a technophobe, i.e. ME, was encouraged to ‘Zoom’. Please do not let technology hold you back as I initially did, Counselling via “Zoom” works really well.”
“At first I didn’t think Zoom webcam counselling would be right for me. I was really worried about the technology aspect, however to see my counsellor on a regular and ongoing basis was very important to me. My counsellor reassured me that if Zoom didn’t work or I got stuck, then she would just call me and walk me through the steps.”
“I really love Zoom, and actually now would choose a Zoom session over a home visit. I’m in my comfy surroundings and I can escape life and really concentrate on me. I would be lost without my counsellor and these Zoom sessions.”