Benefits of online counselling
a source of help in understanding many difficult areas of life, such as work stressors, depression, anxiety, relationship issues and poor self-esteem
helps you find your way to becoming ‘unstuck’ from the way of being you have found yourself in
allows time for you to explore difficult personal issues by helping to identify patterns of behaviour that may be preventing you from moving forward in a positive way in your life
improves self-awareness helping to bring clarity to confusing thoughts and feelings
Online counselling has become more popular since COVID, allowing talking therapy to be more widely accessible to people from home using a variety of internet mediums adapting to people’s busy and changing lifestyles. This includes not having to make a regular journey to a counselling office/room.
There are many different online counselling options available offering great flexibility. You may want to consider more than one medium to see which suits you better.
Counselling is not a crisis service
If you need immediate help that is not life-threatening, please contact your GP for an emergency appointment or attend A&E at your nearest major hospital where a mental health practitioner can assess your needs. If urgent crisis support is required, please call NHS First Response on 111 and choose option 2 for mental health support.
If the situation is life-threatening, please call 999 and ask for an ambulance to take you to A&E, or ask someone else to call 999 for you, or take you directly to A&E at your nearest major hospital for assistance.
The Samaritans operate a free helpline 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Call 116 123 if you need to speak to someone, or you can email jo@samaritans.org. Other sources of help can be found under resources in my header bar or click here
Whilst many people may have access to support from various people in their lives, this may reinforce or influence existing ways of behaving and seeing things. This can be because other peoples’ needs are very closely entwined with our own needs which makes separation difficult.
Being able to talk to someone that you feel comfortable opening up to offers a great freedom of being able to express your inner thoughts and feelings without judgement or opinion.
Some frequently asked questions
How computer literate do I need to be?
For online counselling to work well, you will need a good internet connection and internet speed ie. good enough to run or stream a u-tube video.
Is what we discuss confidential?
What we discuss is confidential, however this may need to be broken if I feel that you, or someone you mention, is at serious risk of harm. I will always try to talk to you about this first.
How do I know what online medium suits me best?
Online counselling internet mediums are very flexible. If we find that one medium is not suited to you, then we can explore the option of changing to another to see if it is a better fit for you.
Why do I need to complete a risk assessment?
It is important that I complete a full risk assessment with you before agreeing that online counselling is an appropriate and safe method for you and what you wish to bring to sessions.
If online counselling is not thought to be an appropriate fit for your needs then every effort will be made to suggest alternative options for you.
Online safety
You will need to find a safe, confidential space with no distractions from which to attend your sessions. To be able to engage in online counselling safely you should ensure your computer has active firewalls, virus checking software, password protection and encryption.