A quick look at the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How’s of E-therapy:
Who
Therapists / Counselor: Only licensed professionals who have satisfied rigorous educational and licensing prerequisites should engage in the practice of e-therapy. These professionals must comply with state licensing standards and uphold a Code of Ethics. Practitioners must be forthright in communicating their licensure status, qualifications, and specific areas of expertise within e-therapy. Numerous dedicated counselors are committed to delivering e-therapy in a secure, efficient, and professional fashion.
Clients / Patients: E-Therapy clients come from every walk of life. A person or couple may choose e-therapy because there is no counseling office near them that can meet their needs, they may be physically challenged in a way that makes going to an office a hardship, the client may feel the anonymity that e-therapy can provide is preferred, or prefer e-therapy for the convenience. Whatever the reason for considering e-therapy, the client and therapist should decide together if e-therapy is right for the client.
What
E-therapy involves professionals delivering mental health services electronically. It goes by various names, including online counseling, virtual counseling, tele-therapy, or tele-counseling. It’s important to note that the terms ‘counseling’ and ‘therapy’ are interchangeable.
Similar to traditional face-to-face therapy, the client and therapist collaborate to achieve the client’s objectives. The process of healing and personal growth in counseling can be challenging, and the counselor is there to assist and guide the client. This assistance can encompass a range of counseling techniques and methods. There will also be objective tasks or targeted goals collaborated on to be completed outside of the session. These will help clients reach their goals sooner.
When
Typically, clients and counselors schedule counseling sessions in advance to establish the session log-on time. In cases of emergencies or crisis situations, the client should address with the counselor how to handle such situations during their initial session.
There may be instances where it becomes necessary to engage in counseling sessions multiple times a week, or it may be less frequent. The frequency of counseling sessions will be jointly determined by the client and counselor.
Where
The counselor’s license establishes the geographic limitations that both the counselor and the client must adhere to. For instance, under the current professional regulations in Texas, a therapist can provide e-therapy to a client residing within the state of Texas. Consequently, clients can access counseling from various locations as long as they are situated in Texas. Clients frequently participate in sessions from settings such as their home office, living room, dorm room, during their lunch break, or while their children are asleep nearby. It is essential to consider two critical factors: confidentiality and internet connectivity.
The therapist must to make sure that the session stays private and confidential from their side. On the client’s part, they should ensure that wherever they are, there’s no chance for others to overhear things that should only be between the counselor and the client.
Since e-therapy is done online, a secure and reliable internet connection is needed to avoid annoying interruptions like grainy video, scratchy audio, and such.
Why
As stated above, there are many reasons someone may wish to receive e-therapy, whether they are homebound, lack transportation, lack access to a counseling office, or something else. E-therapy can fill the gap and provide services to people who may otherwise go without.
How
E-therapy can look just like face-to-face counseling when using video to see and hear each other instead of sitting across the room. The therapist and client may decide that email or messaging can be used in conjunction with, or instead, of video. But no matter which means of counseling, the therapy should always focus on helping the client meet their goals.
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