Online Counselling

Counselling as a concept practically existed for centuries. It was only a few decades ago when professional counselling gained popularity and became part of the mainstream service industry. It is a process that focuses on addressing personal, social and psychological problems of an individual. In simple words, it’s an expert assistance to help resolve issues which an individual finds difficult to deal with on its own.

To start with, there are many psychological problems that exist among all age groups which require professional help. To name a few, we have substance abuse (alcohol or drug addiction), relationship issues (abusive/toxic relationships), depression, anxiety, trauma, stress, among others.

But it is reassuring to know that help is always available. Unlike old times, everything is available online and can be accessed with a touch of your finger – and so is counselling. This means you can avail online counselling services from the comforts of your home.

What is Online Counselling?

In Online Counselling, a client and the therapist interact and have a therapeutic session together through any medium of online communication rather than face to face sessions like it happens in offline therapy. Online Counsellors are available through a variety of mediums via chats, video calls, audio calls, email etc. Online Counselling is a professional mental health treatment that takes place over the internet with the help of Computer-aided technologies. Online Counselling is being given to a large population in today’s time.

For example, to consult a doctor, you just need a phone and an internet connection. You can even consult a psychologist online or take online counselling sessions rather than having to visit a clinic.

The most common problems that clients come with in counselling sessions are depression and anxiety, anger and stress management, career, relationship issues; parenting issue, sex counselling, midlife crisis, menopause, ADHD, PTSD, bullying, pre marriage and many more.

Since the time, smartphones and laptops came into a greater usage, the amount of people taking online counseling has increased. The main thing about online counselling is that it is easier to access and the task of reaching to a large audience a very simple one. Several websites have been created by several mental health services providing companies and working psychologists now days which make the services of online counseling easy to access.

The privacy and confidentiality is kept well as all the information that is shared in the online counseling session is kept anonymous. This makes sure that the clients feel comfortable and safe in the online counseling session. Also, people with physical disabilities, who have introvert personality and face communication problem can seek online counseling without any hesitation.

How Online Counselling Works?

Online Counselling provides services in different aspects of life like personal, emotional, social, etc. Clients can choose from a list of problematic areas given on the websites from which they can choose their area and then select the right therapist for themselves. They also have the chance to read the profiles of the therapists given on the website so they can research about the therapist’s qualifications, languages spoken (Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, etc.), personal qualities, and skills.

Then the clients can just book the appointment as per their convenience. Informed consent is also taken from the client and is informed about all the important things about confidentiality agreements and at the end the therapist makes a treatment plan and counselling sessions happen at regular intervals.

Types of Online Counselling

1. Online Breakup Counselling is for relationship issues and conflicts. Breakup or any relationship issue can really influence one’s self-esteem, self-worth, personal and social life and other aspects of life as well and in that case breakup counselling comes to the rescue.

2. Online Substance Abuse Counselling is for alcohol and drugs addiction. It helps in stopping the addiction to harmful substances like drugs and alcohol and doing it while keeping mental health intact.

3. Online Mental Health Counselling is for stress management, parenting issues, low self-esteem, etc. For general life issues like increased stress levels, poor communication skills, having poor mental health and not able to manage daily hustle and work, mental health counselling really helps a lot.

4. Online Cognitive Behaviour Therapy is for overthinking, stress, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, etc. It focuses on the relationship between one’s thoughts, emotions and behaviour. It deals with the illogical and irrational thoughts stemming from false perception of reality and corrects it with various cognitive restructuring techniques and behavioural techniques.

5. Online Dialectical Behaviour Therapy/Counselling is for suicidal thoughts, eating disorder, self-injury tendencies, borderline personality disorder, etc. This is one of the best counselling for people who react impulsively and need immediate help and relaxation is the counselling session. Clients can improve their significant relationships, become able to manage distress in life, enhance emotional intelligence or learn to regulate emotions better and become mindful of one’s surroundings and environment.

6. Online Family Counselling is for family conflicts and imbalance in family system. Family Counselling is done to resolve any kind of issues and imbalance in the family ecosystem. Issues are firstly identified which could be behavioural, psychological or emotional. It helps to develop health boundaries amongst family members, improve communication patterns, enhance family dynamics and bonding, develop parenting skills, address any behavioural issue, help them to develop problem solving and decision making skills and learn empathy.

7. Online Client-centred Counselling is for disruptions in personal growth and life in general. Clients learn to deal with issues like hopelessness, helplessness, negative feelings, low self-esteem and poor decision making. This counselling makes clients self-healers and helps them to achieve self-actualization. They learn to accept, understand and value themselves in the counselling session. Counsellor gives empathy, unconditional positive regard, and support to the client throughout the journey of counselling.

8. Online Couples Counselling is for relationship issues and conflicts between couples. This type of counselling is very popular these days and the success rate is also high. In this counselling, therapist tries to understand the dynamics of the relationship of a couple and also make them understand about it so that any needed changes can be made. Counsellor makes sure that couples don’t do anything that can harm their relationship and lead to a breakup. Emotions are shared, communication is improved and bonding is increased in an online couples counselling.

9. Online Career Counselling is a service that people may seek before selecting a field/career, during a job to make any advances and after a job to maybe switch career. It includes one on one session between career counsellor and the client in which assessments are taken, life experiences are discussed, skills are taught and guidance is provided. With the help of the career counsellor, client chooses the appropriate career path and then makes goals to achieve success. Untapped potential is also sometimes discovered in the career counselling session, clients are prepared for interviews and trendy jobs are explored in the session with the career counsellor.

10. Online Sex Counselling involves client and the counsellor working together to identify thoughts, emotions and behaviours interfering with sexual behaviours. Counsellor and client discuss in details about beliefs about sex, any health concerns, sexual experiences, and also provides ex education to the client.

Advantages of Online Counselling

There were times when we had to go out to a physical space to buy or avail a particular type of product or service; however, digitalization has made this process quite easy. In particular the mental health service industry and the two pillars of it, the provider and the receiver have been hugely benefited by the change. Transportation issues are not present in online counselling and are way too less expensive.

People with health issues and physical disabilities can easily take the opportunity of having online counselling and cut the costs of travelling. These online counselling services are flexible and can be booked as per convenience. In comparison to offline counselling, online counselling offers a wide variety of counselling and provides the client with a huge array of types of counselling. Also, people who live in remote areas can easily avail the online counselling services at the comfort of their home.

There are many advantages of online counselling like ease of access; almost everyone has a phone and an internet connection. It also helps you save time and effort as there is no need to visit a counsellor/expert physically or waste time fixing an appointment over the phone. It gives you multiple options to communicate through various mediums like e-mail, web chat and even phone based chat services like text messaging, video conferencing etc. It is a more affordable option compared to face to face counselling and you will not be compelled to reveal your identity to receive the service.

Mental Health Issues treated in Online Counselling

Online Counselling is proven to be best for the treatment of following mental health issues:

• Anxiety and phobias

• Mood disorders

• Stress

• Bullying

• Post-traumatic stress disorder

• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

• Obsessive compulsive disorder

• Eating disorders

• Sleep disorders

• Sexual problems

• Family and marriage issues

• Relationship issues or breakup

Is Online Counselling effective?

Online Counselling is proven to be an effective treatment for various mental health issues. According to a 2018 study, online counselling (CBT) has proven to be effective as the offline counselling for issues like depression, panic attacks, anxiety disorders and stress. Also researches have concluded that online counselling is more cost-effective and easy to take than offline counselling. According to an another study conducted in 2019, it was found out that online family counselling treated successfully issues like conduct disorders, offending behaviours, depression and substance abuse disorder.

Things to consider before going for Online Counselling

1. Book your appointment at such a time when you won’t get disrupted again and again as online counselling happens at your own place rather than at a hospital or clinic.

2. Keep your technological devices in good condition and ready before the session time to avoid any disruptions and technological default at the time of the session.

3. Online Counselling is possible only because of the internet but it can be poor sometimes so always have a back up to deal with any issue during the counselling session.

4. Always have a counselling session at a quiet, comforting and private space so you can feel relaxed at the same time.

5. Understand the importance of non-verbal cues that are absent in the online counselling session so put more efforts and focus onto the non-verbal cues. So, that it will be easy for the therapist to understand you better.

6. Always ask about the privacy policy of the website on which you booked your appointment of online counselling. It’s important to be aware of that everything that you share will be kept confidential or not and also how.

7. Make sure the environment in which online counselling will happen has good lighting, comfortable sitting and has everything that you might need.

8. Online Counselling can take place through several mediums like chats, audio calls or video calls so it’s your choice completely to choose the medium which is the most comfortable according to you.

Visit Medavas for Online Counselling Services

Counsellors at Medavas are trained professionals, taught to maintain a positive and a neutral attitude under all circumstances to provide best assistance to the client. They are also trained to develop a skill of providing online counselling for all kinds of personal and psychological issues. Counsellors at Medavas have good listening skills, warm and empathetic personality; maintain a professional relationship with the client etc. 

Our online counselling services can be used for various psychological issues like depression and anxiety, anger and stress management, PTSD, bullying, pre marriage, etc. We also provide counselling in multiple languages — Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, and more — so you can communicate in the language you feel most comfortable with. Book your appointment today and get one of the best online counselling services.