Online counselling and psychotherapy

In March 2020, like many other therapists, I was “forced” to move much of my life online due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Maybe you had a parallel experience? And like me, maybe you too experienced that meeting with others online allowed ongoing connection and sustenance of important relationships.

This has also been my experience with the relationships I have with clients, supervisees, and meditation students. Online therapy is effective; the videoconferencing meeting room providing a “good enough” container for the relational work of therapy.

In my previous work as a coach, much of my interaction with athletes, individual clients, and groups was online: so when the entire profession moved en mass to the virtual practice of counselling and psychotherapy I didn’t share the anxiety of the technology; nor did I doubt my ability to form close and trustworthy relationship online. This was also the case in creating a virtual teaching environment for the trainee counsellors and psychotherapists I work with in my role as educator and trainer – one has to have the confidence and faith in the online medium to model how it works, and why it works.

Online therapy is a means of accessing the same quality of support you would expect in the face-to-face consulting room from the comfort and safety of your own home. Much of the process is the same, and yet it offers a convenience that many people (post pandemic in particular) are valuing: for example, not having the costs of both time and travel to come to the therapy session. Most importantly to you as the client, online therapy has become so prevalent now, there is a growing research base showing that online therapy is as effective as in-person therapy.

Online working might be particularly interesting to you if you are on a spiritual path and wish to find a therapist who works with a “transpersonal” approach – not many therapists offer this integration work, so this online offering means you can do so without the limitations of geographical location.

To find out more, contact me.

Some benefits of working online:

  • You can create a comfortable and private space in your own home from which to attend therapy.
  • You may find it easier to open up, talk, focus and express yourself.
  • You may enjoy wearing comfortable clothes, bringing a cup of tea and avoiding a commute after a therapy session.
  • You may find more flexibility when needing to re-schedule a session.
  • It might be possible to continue the work together when meeting face to face would be difficult e.g. work commitments that require travel away; if there is a geographical change to your living situation
  • It could also help you access Helen’s special interests and expertise in spiritual and psychological integration