Marriage Matters, LLC - Online Counseling

What is Online Counseling

One of the most remarkable innovations of our time is clearly the Internet. Virtually any product or service can be obtained online. Every five seconds a new "dot com" name is being registered. From Fortune 500 companies to "mom and pop" businesses, the Internet has rapidly become the largest marketplace in the world. It shouldn’t be any surprise then that psychotherapists, counselors, and psychologists have their services available online, too. There are actually over 300 Internet therapists online these days and just about every area of mental health is represented here. Substance abuse, anger management, and marriage counseling are just a few of the problem areas represented on the "net." Of course many situations are not appropriate for online therapists, but most online professionals are responsible and ethical enough to let you know what the limitations of their services are. Also, because most online therapists make their credentials available for everyone to see, anyone accessing these services knows who it is they’re dealing with.

So how can mental health providers deliver their services on the Internet? It’s really not that difficult. For starters, most online therapists have free information available on their web sites. Articles, checklists and self-assessment tools are just a few of the ways people can get information on the Internet. One of the biggest reasons people avoid traditional therapy is because of their embarrassment with telling someone face to face that they have "problems." So online counseling sites and services are a good way for some people to overcome the stigma and resistance commonly associated with seeking professional help. Once the ice is broken, people who might not have gotten any kind of help with their problems begin to see that there are answers to their questions and solutions to their problems. Other free services most sites provide are extensive lists of mental health resources and access to traditional therapists in local areas.

If you’ve read my column before you probably know that I host the online counseling site, Marriage Matters, LLC (www.marriagematters.com). Similar to Marriage Matters, LLC, most online therapy sites provide the therapist’s biography and credentials online. You’ll also see testimonials from previous clients, articles and, in the case of Marriage Matters, LLC, you’ll be able to listen to previously recorded interviews with noted authors, clinicians and other professionals. This is a fairly unique feature among counseling sites although some of the more well-known radio therapists provide online audio, too. Once you’ve explored the various free services and links these sites provide and get a feel for their perspective on things, you might choose to try one of the "fee-based" counseling services.

Most online counseling sites offer one or more ways for clients and counselors to interact. E mail, Live Chat, and telephone sessions are just some of the ways people can access these services. But the most common form of online counseling is through e mail. With E mail counseling you’ll either fill out a questionnaire (as in the case of Marriage Matters, LLC) or simply write out the problem or concern you’re having and send it to the therapist. Most online therapists respond fairly quickly--Marriage Matters, LLC, for instance, guarantees a response within 24 to 48 hours. After all, one of the main advantages of using the Internet is the speed at which things take place. With live chat or telephone sessions, clients have the option of including their spouse or other family members in the process. These online services create a flexibility in terms of scheduling and location that just isn’t possible with traditional counseling. Even if separated or in two different locations, having the flexibility to work with a spouse or other family member creates a tremendous advantage for people using online counseling services.

There are a number of other advantages to using online counseling, too. For instance, aside from the anonymity of online counseling, many people feel that the process of writing out their thoughts and feelings is somewhat therapeutic in itself. It’s like writing a journal except that you’re going to be getting feedback from a professional. And since your written words and any response you get are permanent documents, you can read them again and again if necessary. Also, you have the opportunity to take your time while writing about your situation so you get a chance to make sure that what you wanted to say gets said. Fees for online therapists range from free (although the free sites don’t make any guarantee that your e mail will be responded to) to several dollars a minute. But most online therapists are charging in the range of one to two dollars per minute with either a 30 or 50 dollar minimum. Managed care companies aren’t on board with this concept yet so the expense of these services are almost always out of pocket. The benefits for a lot of people seem to outweigh the monetary costs, though.

After a year as an online counselor, I’ve compiled some research about who’s contacting me for online counseling. Almost 60% have never had therapy or any kind of mental health services before. Fifty nine percent are women and 41% are men. Eighty percent of the women who contact me work and almost half of those women work full-time. A huge percentage of people - 88% - are either college educated or have a graduate degree. The main problems people are bringing to me online are that they don’t feel listened to, they don’t feel cared about, the communication in their marriage is poor, or that their spouse doesn’t spend enough time devoted to the relationship or family. Even though my online counseling work has thus far has been focused on marriage and relationship issues, I think it’s fair to say that some of these statistics are representative of other online clients, too. If even at this early stage of development online counseling is helping as many people as it is and is helping people who might not otherwise have been helped, the benefits seem obvious and the future for online counseling looks bright.