You can talk to an online counselor and start leading an improved and fulfilling life. Find licensed therapists for effective and convenient sessions.
Find an Online Counselor: What Is Teletherapy Counseling?
Finding an online counselor allows you to access useful therapy way more conveniently. It provides much more freedom since you don’t have to schedule in-person meetings or make trips to the counselor’s office. Besides, hiring a counselor online is cheaper, and sessions can be held from the privacy of your PC or phone.
Over the last few years, mental health experts have increasingly embraced on-the-phone and internet counseling. This trend has, in turn, led to the proliferation of a new form of therapy called teletherapy.
What exactly is teletherapy? It is any kind of counseling that utilizes technology to facilitate communication between the counselor/therapist and client. Teletherapy involves the use of phones and online features such as videoconferencing, group chats, real-time messengers, and email. So far, this form of counseling has proven to be as effective in-person/traditional therapy.
You can find an online counselor and get started on your wellness journey. You can also make arrangements if you want one of the professionals to cater to someone else, be it a friend, kid, or parent. Anyone can get started with internet counseling today and lead a happier, balanced life!
What’s Internet Counseling and How Is It Useful?
Online counseling is a type of therapy that is conducted over a PC or smartphone. An internet connection and a real-time messaging application are the bare minimum requirements.
Often, the clients do not see their experts and vice versa. Meetings are typically started by a series of queries directed to the therapy-seeker. These help the professional comprehend the condition of the client and happenings within their lives.
It’s vital to select your medium for accessing counseling on the internet based on your situation. If you’re one to move about frequently, a mobile application will prove handy. And contingent upon the application, you can access therapy via audio, video, or text.
Be sure to get an online counselor with a valid license. Reliable providers have many licensed experts and will deliver counseling that certainly helps improve your life.
At online platforms, you are at liberty to search and choose an internet therapist based on criteria such as the area of specialization. It could be post-traumatic stress disorder or any other psychological matter. The point here is to find a professional who matches your counseling needs by assessing their biographies. You can also reach out to counselors to learn more about what counseling services they offer.
Why Internet Counseling Has Been Accepted Widely
Online therapy has since become quite popular, rivaling its conventional form significantly. This trend can be attributed to several factors, as discussed below.
Easier Conversations
With an online counselor, there’s no need to leave your home to get your conversation with a professional started. Besides, you can communicate with them while attending to other daily activities, as long as your session is not affected. Importantly, conversations can be held in various ways- text, audio, and live-feed.
Customized Therapy
With this form of therapy, you have access and liberty to choose an expert from a vast pool. As such, you are better placed to find an expert that genuinely speaks to your needs. Counseling provided online allows you to pick professionals within your affiliations, for instance, fellow veterans.
Cheaper Costs
Therapy provided online is way affordable than conventional counseling. For one, you do not need insurance to access it. Moreover, you do not have to pay extra to access services outside of the acceptable therapy hours, as is with conventional counseling.
Utmost Confidentiality
Phone counseling and other forms of internet therapy are impressively confidential. For instance, you can use nicknames or pseudonyms to hide your identity. Besides, sessions are encrypted using the latest technology, keeping them safe from intrusions by hackers.
What Makes Internet Therapies Convenient?
Compared to conventional therapies, counseling provided online is quite convenient. You can select the time, destination, and even the path that your therapy sessions take.
For instance, with phone counseling, you access useful therapy on-the-go. It is particularly helpful if you need some uplifting amid a bad day. Alternatively, you can get an application that enables you to access therapy without an internet connection.
Learn more about how you can get started with online therapy now!
Can You Switch Counselors?
One main advantage of this form of therapy is that you can change your therapists in a snap. If you realize that your partnership is not fruitful, you can change to another professional by pressing a button.
Phone counciling or any other form on internet therapies go on smoothly even after changing experts. After all, your records will be provided to the new professional to ensure that your progress is not lost.
What to Look Forward to?
Are you conversant with phone counseling or any other kinds of internet-based therapies? You can expect a significant difference in this kind of counseling compared to its conventional counterpart. Some of the unique aspects you can expect are:
- Tech-enabled therapist and client pairing;
- Text, audio, or video-based conversations;
- Faster progress since you can share your experiences more often.
Benefits of Sticking with Counseling
For excellent results, you need to take phone counseling and other internet therapy forms over a long duration. As such, they’re bound to be instances when you feel like stopping your meetings altogether. If you find yourself in this situation, here are some positives of internet counseling to encourage you:
- It helps you overcome all painful emotions;
- It provides a reliable place for unburdening yourself from negativity and issues;
- It teaches you how to deal with new problems gracefully;
- It improves your mental state.
Can You Take a Pause?
Online counselling, unlike its conventional counterpart, can be halted temporarily. This attribute makes this kind of therapy quite manageable since you can always take a break in case of financial problems and scheduling clashes.
If you intend to halt your counseling, be sure to consider individual and logistical matters. The former is all about the business end of things while the latter has to do with handling your emotions.
How Much Time Does Counseling Typically Last?
The duration of therapy, be it online counselling or otherwise, is mostly determined by a person’s condition. It also depends on how many sessions are recommended for the condition, the client’s needs, and financial capabilities. Ideally, counseling ends when a person achieves the goals that they set out together with the counselor at the beginning.
The number of recommended therapy sessions may vary for different conditions and types of treatment. You should start with six to eight sessions and then decide whether you want to take a break or continue. Remember, while your counselor can advise you on how many sessions you need, you decide when to stop.
What to Do if You Dislike Your Counselor
What happens when you start online counselling and realize that you don’t like the therapist you’ve been assigned? The fact is you don’t have to like your counselor. These feelings may come up in the beginning as you try to establish a working relationship or later. Experiencing some stress or disagreements is a normal part of any counseling session.
Sometimes the counselor will push you to address specific obstacles or beliefs as part of overcoming your issues. Determine whether your negative feelings towards your counselor are short-term due to a particular problem or longer-term and more serious. Then, discuss them with your counselor to either find a solution or get a referral to another counselor.
Kate Skurat
Licensed Mental Health Counselor
Washington, United States
Kate has a B.S. in Psychology and M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University and has worked in healthcare since 2017. She primarily treated depression, anxiety, eating disorders, trauma, and grief, as well as identity, relationship and adjustment issues. Her clinical experience has focused on individual and group counseling, emergency counseling and outreach. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-skurat-5348381b9/
