Benefits of Online Counseling: What It Is and How to Get Started

Benefits of Online Counseling: What It Is and How to Get Started

Until recently, online counseling had not been taken seriously in counseling. However, with the arrival of new advanced technologies, online care appears to simplify and facilitate the lives of many patients! The benefits of online counseling remain the same as traditional counseling. You receive the help you need while knowing that everything you discuss with your therapist remains confidential. While some might squirm at the idea of online counseling, Calm Blue Waters Counseling, PLLC would like to share a few unique benefits that one might find helpful.

What is Online Counseling

A few years ago, to undergo counseling, it was necessary for the patient and the therapist to be together in the same room. Both parties agree to see each other at the scheduled location to hold the session. While traditional counseling has not lost its streak, online counseling has started to gain ground, becoming more and more accessible and acknowledged by the general public.

You may have noticed how the majority of your chores or tasks can be accomplished online, including grocery shopping, paying the bills, or ordering takeout. Before the Internet, however, you had to leave the house if you wanted to eat something. Today, you can order almost any dish through a food app! Before you had to take a bus and walk to a specific destination, now, just call an Uber from your smartphone! Many services can be done without leaving your home, and counseling is no exception.

Nowadays, online counseling can simply be done in the comfort of your home or office simply using only a computer or smartphone connected to the Internet. This type of mental health counseling is the same as traditional counseling, the way it’s broadcasted in the only difference. The counselor schedules weekly sessions that last around 50 minutes; it could be more or less depending on the patient’s needs. So, as long as you have a stable Internet connection, a computer or cell phone you’re good to go!

Benefits of Online Counseling

The benefits of online counseling are many and not negligible. A few of them are:

1. Time Saver

If you have already undergone counseling traditionally, you may have noticed that between going and coming from the therapists’ office, you’re spending a great deal of time on the road. You need to be at the clinic before the session starts. And for that, you’re spending time in traffic and overall commuting. Not to mention spending money on gas.

With online counseling, you don’t have to travel long distances. Just schedule the best time for you and your online counselor and if you’re a new client, fill out any necessary paperwork prior to your first session and that’s it! All client’s will receive a link for their online counseling session 15 minutes prior to their session start time that they will click on at their scheduled appointment time. Once both the counselor and the client sign on for the session, the session will begin.

2. Enhanced Security

With online counseling, you take no chances. You’re not exposing yourself to unnecessary threats or dangers by having to commute to your therapist’s clinic. Sessions are held via your computer or smartphone; you can be in the place where you feel most secure.

3. Comfort

This is a significant benefit! For your session to flow effectively, it is necessary for the patient to feel at ease in their environment. And for that, there’s nothing more comfortable than being in the place where you want to be! Whether at home, on a trip, in your office, you can easily carry out you’re counseling productively.

4. Confidentiality

People often wonder about client data protection in an online counseling setting. Like traditional counseling, online counseling also follows strict rules regarding the confidentiality of each service. In other words, all your data and the conversation between you and your counselor remain secure through encryption.

Another thing that must be remembered is that nobody will need to know that you are undergoing counseling because, with online care, you can carry out the sessions from any location of your choosing without anyone knowing your business.

5. Cost-Effectiveness

When performing online mental health counselingyou leave aside expenses like gasoline, bus, or Uber. Since you can do counseling from anywhere, you don’t need to move around to get to a clinic in time!

6. Greater Resourcefulness

According to a study on the efficacy of online counselingat-home counseling has not only proven to be clinically efficacious, but clients feel more comfortable talking through the computer screen and smartphone than in person. This makes counseling much more beneficial, taking into account that most patients have greater resourcefulness and courage to talk about things that they would typically shy away from face to face.


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