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Online counseling
Online counseling, also known as online therapy, teletherapy, e-therapy, cyber therapy, or web-based counseling, is a form of mental health care that is delivered through the internet. Licensed or trained mental health professionals remotely communicate with clients to provide assessments, support or therapeutic services for individuals seeking counseling. Rather than conventional face-to-face interactions, these services are typically offered via email, real-time chat, or video conferencing. Online counseling may be used as an alternative to traditional psychotherapy, or nutritional counseling.
Although forms of telepsychology and telepsychiatry have been available for over 35 years, the development of digital communication technologies and the wider availability of broadband internet has influenced online therapy services. As the use of online counseling continues to expand through different platforms, clients utilize online counseling as a replacement or as a supplement to in-person treatment.
One of the earliest demonstrations involving computer-based communication was a simulated psychotherapy session between computers at Stanford and UCLA during the International Conference on Computer Communication in October 1972. Although the interaction was a simulation and not actual counseling, it contributed to the growing interest on how emerging network technologies might be used for therapeutic communication. As access to the internet, bulletin boards, and online services expanded throughout the 1980s, online communication became common, and virtual self-help groups naturally developed. These self-help groups were often considered precursors to online counseling due to them demonstrating how individuals could seek emotional support through digital communication. Furthermore, with the public release of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s, mental health professionals began creating websites offering mental health information. Along with this some practitioners began to receive requests for personal help through the platform. The responses to these requests lead to the advent of online counseling.
Early documentation on the development of online counseling was produced by Martha Ainsworth in 1995, who began searching for a therapist due to her having psychological complaints.[1] Her frequently traveling made it difficult for her to consult a face-to-face therapist, and therefore, she needed an effective alternative, someone she could consult with mobile like an online therapist. At that time, she only found a small number of web pages that offered psychological support or therapy services online. Due to the scarcity, Ainsworth later created a clearinghouse for mental health websites known as Metanoia, which is a Greek word meaning "a change of mind," and it aimed to provide the public with accessible information about online mental health resources. By 2000, Metanoia contained over 250 websites of private practices and more than 700 online clinics where individuals could initiate contact with a therapist.
According to metanoia.org, the first service to offer online mental healthcare was "Ask Uncle Ezra", a platform created by staff at Cornell University in 1986 to provide support to students. By the mid-1990s, several fee-based online services providing mental health advice had emerged, reflecting growing public interest in digital mental health resources. Additionally, between 1994 and 2002, a group of trained volunteer crisis counselors called "Samaritans", began providing suicide prevention services via email. Since that time, the number of online counseling providers and support groups has continued to increase, influenced by the expansion of web-based services and anonymity associated with virtual sessions.
Online counseling offers several advantages. These include:
Some of the disadvantages of online counseling include:
Although preliminary evidence suggest that online counseling may help populations that tend to underutilize traditional in-office counseling, questions regarding its overall effectiveness and appropriateness still has not been resolved.
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Online counseling
Online counseling, also known as online therapy, teletherapy, e-therapy, cyber therapy, or web-based counseling, is a form of mental health care that is delivered through the internet. Licensed or trained mental health professionals remotely communicate with clients to provide assessments, support or therapeutic services for individuals seeking counseling. Rather than conventional face-to-face interactions, these services are typically offered via email, real-time chat, or video conferencing. Online counseling may be used as an alternative to traditional psychotherapy, or nutritional counseling.
Although forms of telepsychology and telepsychiatry have been available for over 35 years, the development of digital communication technologies and the wider availability of broadband internet has influenced online therapy services. As the use of online counseling continues to expand through different platforms, clients utilize online counseling as a replacement or as a supplement to in-person treatment.
One of the earliest demonstrations involving computer-based communication was a simulated psychotherapy session between computers at Stanford and UCLA during the International Conference on Computer Communication in October 1972. Although the interaction was a simulation and not actual counseling, it contributed to the growing interest on how emerging network technologies might be used for therapeutic communication. As access to the internet, bulletin boards, and online services expanded throughout the 1980s, online communication became common, and virtual self-help groups naturally developed. These self-help groups were often considered precursors to online counseling due to them demonstrating how individuals could seek emotional support through digital communication. Furthermore, with the public release of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s, mental health professionals began creating websites offering mental health information. Along with this some practitioners began to receive requests for personal help through the platform. The responses to these requests lead to the advent of online counseling.
Early documentation on the development of online counseling was produced by Martha Ainsworth in 1995, who began searching for a therapist due to her having psychological complaints.[1] Her frequently traveling made it difficult for her to consult a face-to-face therapist, and therefore, she needed an effective alternative, someone she could consult with mobile like an online therapist. At that time, she only found a small number of web pages that offered psychological support or therapy services online. Due to the scarcity, Ainsworth later created a clearinghouse for mental health websites known as Metanoia, which is a Greek word meaning "a change of mind," and it aimed to provide the public with accessible information about online mental health resources. By 2000, Metanoia contained over 250 websites of private practices and more than 700 online clinics where individuals could initiate contact with a therapist.
According to metanoia.org, the first service to offer online mental healthcare was "Ask Uncle Ezra", a platform created by staff at Cornell University in 1986 to provide support to students. By the mid-1990s, several fee-based online services providing mental health advice had emerged, reflecting growing public interest in digital mental health resources. Additionally, between 1994 and 2002, a group of trained volunteer crisis counselors called "Samaritans", began providing suicide prevention services via email. Since that time, the number of online counseling providers and support groups has continued to increase, influenced by the expansion of web-based services and anonymity associated with virtual sessions.
Online counseling offers several advantages. These include:
Some of the disadvantages of online counseling include:
Although preliminary evidence suggest that online counseling may help populations that tend to underutilize traditional in-office counseling, questions regarding its overall effectiveness and appropriateness still has not been resolved.