Is Online Therapy Good for You?

There are thousands of online counseling and psychotherapy sites on the net. From ameteur to professional sites. Would you consider that? Would it be superior to face to face counseling? How will you decide which site to choose from?

The first question is whether onlie counseling is superior to face to face counseling. The home page of ProvenTherapy.com displays a testimony from a client which reads, "I felt better after one session with you online than 6 sessions of face-to-face counselling… in many ways it could be considered superior to face-to-face counseling on this point." The client explains the advantage of projecting his own identity in place of a counselor.

There are quite a good number of clients who prefers online counseling only to avoid a therapist straight in front of them. Though they know the benefits of seeking professional support, the presence of a real person in the therapy room is bit hard for them to open up. The virtual room, on the other hand, is comfortable for such clients where they can be at their own bedroom or office room to have their session.

The Terms - The Connotations

The terms counseling and psychotherapy are used interchangeably, though both have different connotations. A person with day to day issues who wants some clarity about such issues to get around might turn up to a counselor whereas a person who needs something to do with his personality or who is worried about his coping skills or emotional stability might require psychotherapy.

A psychotherapist is more inclined to follow the medical model using diagnosis-treatment-prognosis route to help the client. A counselor relies more on analytical methods to give some clarity to the issue. Most of the practitioners are, in fact, counselors as well as psychotherapists. It all depends on the nature of issues that a client brings in - whether the practitioner needs to take the clinical route or analytical route.