Although online therapy has been around since at least 2000, technology advances make it much easier nowadays to get a counselor or coach to speak to you across the miles with your internet connection and a web cam. Counselors must follow the licensing laws to know whether you can meet over the web and what kind of service you can have. In other words, sessions with a counselor out of state are only going to be legal if your counselor has a license in the state where you live, or is providing what is called "coaching" (and knows the difference) available to residents of any state or nation.
When I first started "online therapy" back in 2000, web cams had not quite taken off in popularity so when I logged in for a session it was into a secured text based therapy chat room with just the client and I. Surprisingly, I found I could work fast and effective and it seemed that the world of online counseling was a new creature in all ways. Assessment was mainly left to a quick pre session intake form, clients could remain anonymous to the counselor (although the credit card billing name was evident), and I swear I did an effective counseling session for a woman on her work break in under 15 minutes! I would have never believed it myself if I hadn't been there.
Here we are nearly 15 years later and my online sessions have been video sessions from both my phone and computer. Distance clients and I still talk the old fashioned way, over the phone, but once you get that live video stream up on the screen, people get excited about seeing each other and getting all that visual information that helps fill out the emotional context. The difference for me is like turning the light on when before talking on the phone is like having a conversation in the dark. I can do it, but it is so much better when we can see each other!
Couples from other nations have reached out to get coaching and as long as they can speak English (or use an interpreter), get their video chat rolling, meet the legal criteria, and can make their payment via credit card on the Square Marketplace. I love it when the miles melt away and Relationship Gardening, delivering tools for growing love, goes GLOBAL!!!!!!
When I first started "online therapy" back in 2000, web cams had not quite taken off in popularity so when I logged in for a session it was into a secured text based therapy chat room with just the client and I. Surprisingly, I found I could work fast and effective and it seemed that the world of online counseling was a new creature in all ways. Assessment was mainly left to a quick pre session intake form, clients could remain anonymous to the counselor (although the credit card billing name was evident), and I swear I did an effective counseling session for a woman on her work break in under 15 minutes! I would have never believed it myself if I hadn't been there.
Here we are nearly 15 years later and my online sessions have been video sessions from both my phone and computer. Distance clients and I still talk the old fashioned way, over the phone, but once you get that live video stream up on the screen, people get excited about seeing each other and getting all that visual information that helps fill out the emotional context. The difference for me is like turning the light on when before talking on the phone is like having a conversation in the dark. I can do it, but it is so much better when we can see each other!
Couples from other nations have reached out to get coaching and as long as they can speak English (or use an interpreter), get their video chat rolling, meet the legal criteria, and can make their payment via credit card on the Square Marketplace. I love it when the miles melt away and Relationship Gardening, delivering tools for growing love, goes GLOBAL!!!!!!
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