You can bring to online therapy anything you feel that you want to talk about. Maybe you have some things in your relationship that you want to get a different perpective on? Maybe you find yourself getting angry and you are not quite sure why? Counselling offers a space for you to talk about anything that you want or need to within a confidential space, with someone who is trained to listen to you and help you gain deeper understanding. The only difference is that online counselling uses technology to have that conversation rather than travelling to a counsellors consulting room and having a face to face counselling session, allowing you choice and flexibility. You don’t need to chose one method when booking sessions, you may want a blend of all 3-email one week, instant messaging the next to see what better suits you in expressing and communicating the things that you need to.
Here is some more detail about how the options work:
Email gives you the opportunity to reflect on the pertinent issues that you need to bring to counselling. You can write up to 1,000 words, or for the length of time you would be in a face-to-face counselling session, i.e. up to 50 minutes. I then would reply to you at set session time, so you will know when to expect the reply. If I can’t address everything in one session, I will write to what seems to be the most pressing issue, and highlight the ones that you might want to pick up in the next session.
You can send your email on whatever day of the week suits you, however I will respond to you at a set time and day, called 'session time'. I will read your emails in their session time and will respond to you. Therefore you will need to send your email prior to the session so that you will get a response by the end of the session. You will then be able to read my email whenever you like and send your next email back any time before the next session.
Please bear in mind that I will read and answer your counselling email only during your session time. If you feel you need urgent attention in between sessions I recommend you contact your GP or the Samaritans on 116 123 or on jo@samaritans.org
When you send an email you will receive a short email to tell you that I have received it. It would be helpful if you could also do this so we all know the technology is working. I will then respond to you in full at the agreed session time, usually at the same time each week. I will let you know if there may be a delay for any reason.
With Instant Messaging you will be able to have a real time, text based conversation with me, similarly to when you enter a chat room and talk with your friends by typing your messages in a live conversation.
You will have agreed a session time with me as your counsellor and we will agree a time an program that suits you to communicate on : i.e. Viber, WhatsApp, Messager. The first time you have a session, depending on your computer or phone specifications, you might need to download some free software.
Sessions will last up to 50 minutes.
Video conferencing gives you the opportunity to engage in real time counselling via your computer or smart phone and see each other. It is similar to using Skype, but it offers a more confidential platform than Skype.
You will have agreed a session time with your counsellor and will enter the video conference site by clicking the link you will find in the invite email I have sent you. The first time you have a session, depending on your computer specifications, you might need to download some free software. If you are asked to do so please accept the download.
Sessions will last up to 50 minutes.
Sometimes technology fails. If you cannot get online for your session then you can call me. When we confirm the first session, I will give you my phone number. It would be great if you would share your telephone number for the same reason. By sharing our numbers we hope we can try to mitigate technology failure.
Please let me know 48 hours in advance if you need to cancel or rearrange a session by emailing me. I will contact you as soon as they are able to re arrange the session, usually for the following week.
Likewise, if I have to cancel a session for any reason you will be given as much notice as possible. You will be asked later which address you would prefer to be contacted on should this happen.
If you miss a session without letting me know in advance, I will contact you to offer another appointment. However, the missed appointment will incur a cost. If you miss two appointments in a row without contacting me I will assume you no longer want to work together and close your case. You will be welcome to come back to me at a later stage should you wish so.
Anything that you mention to me in our sessions is treated as confidential. There are limits to this confidentiality if I feel there is a serious risk of harm to you or to someone else. If this happened, I would try to ensure a person’s safety. As far as possible I would try to do this in co-operation with you and with your consent. For instance, I might help you to get the support you need.
Confidentiality works both ways so I ask you not to share transcripts or recordings of sessions with external parties. Amanda Hawkins Counselling and Therapy legally owns all transcripts and materials related to the counselling I provide.
The computers I use for online work are password protected and only used by myself. If we work by email you will need to make privacy arrangements for the emails we exchange. Word documents can be encrypted and sent as an email attachment with a password sent separately by email. You might want to ask me how to do this.
I will keep your counselling emails in a folder on my computer for the time you work together and for 6 months following. After that they will be deleted.
For live sessions with text and video I use Blue Jeans, which has a high level of encryption. It can be downloaded free to your computer.
All our computers have firewalls and reliable virus protection.
To run the service properly I keep client records in accordance with the Data Protection Act.
I value feedback on our work as I aim to offer a high quality service and deal with any problems as quickly and sensitively as possible. It is also helpful for us to know if you have benefited from our service and in what way, if you wish to share this with me.
After completing a course of counselling with me you will receive an email inviting you to evaluate the service. I do appreciate your participation in this process.
I am also a Senior Accredited Member of BACP and as such if you feel that I have not acted in accordance with their Ethical Framework you can also contact them at: British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, BACP House, 15 St Johns Business Park, Lutterworth, Leicestershire, LE17 4HB
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