All You Need to Know About the New Emerging Field of Cyber Counseling

Cyber Counseling- Benefits and Challenges Cyber counseling, its benefits and challenges Online or cyber counseling denotes professional counseling on mental health issues via the internet. Whereas some patients employ the services of online counselors in addition to regular psychotherapy, there are now an increasing number of clients adopting only online counseling and doing away with traditional psychiatric appointments.

The cyber world's dominance has resulted in mounting demand by clients for cyber counseling; cyber counseling has achieved remarkable growth, and this trend will likely persist for many years to come (Mishna, Bogo, & Sawyer, 2015). In the last 10 years, there has been tremendous progress in novel means of communicating via the internet. The sector of behavioral health has now, unenthusiastically or readily, accepted technology as a means for dealing with substance/alcohol dependence and mental illnesses, thereby making web-based therapy a steadily-unfolding reality (Derrig-Palumbo, 2005).

Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) director, Dr. Wesley Clark states that technology is capable of facilitating the broader aim of guaranteeing community life for everybody. He asserts that the objective is not replacing traditional therapy for addictive and mental illnesses. The realm of online counseling encompasses various forms and names, which include cyber counseling, tele-psychiatry, e-therapy, and tele-health.

The difference between these forms of therapy and conventional one-to-one counseling is the use of text messaging, chat rooms, email, interactive websites, voice-over-internet, video-conferencing, and numerous resource delivery processes in the former (Powell, 2012). This paper looks into cyber counseling, what it involves, and its advantages and limitations. Benefits 1. Cyber counseling delivers a handy tool to psychiatrists to leverage the effect of counseling. Often, a majority of treatment systems fail in adequate aftercare and follow-up.

Use of cyber counseling provides a multitude of options for leveraging and getting the most out of outpatient and inpatient psychotherapy. 1. It offers a way to access patients who may otherwise be bereft of aid (e.g. special needs patients, deaf, handicapped, agoraphobics, non-ambulatory, pre-contemplative or ambivalent patients, patients with low incomes and lack of resources or of transportation to psychiatric clinics, patients having hectic lives, or living too far away from clinics, or requiring follow-up appointments every day).

Cyber counseling aids those who require an instantaneous response, and do not have access, to requisite resources to avail advice. 1. It is economical, accessible and affords a great degree of anonymity, preferred by most persons ailing from addictive and mental issues. It provides unique confidentiality and privacy to those who feel uncomfortable with face-to-face psychotherapy. 1. Both psychiatrist and patient have the benefit of having permanent documentation of data pertaining to therapy sessions, self-paced activities, and client progress, as well as a personal patient home page (Powell, 2012). Challenges 1.

The biggest question is what qualifications and special training cyber-counselors require. With cyber counseling increasingly gaining immense popularity, counselors will eventually have to learn a large number of skills, like reading and comprehending nonverbal cues, which are employed while working with sight and hearing-impaired persons. There is an even greater challenge with cyber counseling, as patients are shielded from them by a technological barrier. Counselors have to grow a "third ear," just like blind counselors.

Also, credentialing standards will be needed, just as there are specialty certifications for eating disorders, gambling, prevention, etc. 1. Another question raised is the issue of 'experience' most of today's online counselors face, in view of the relative newness of cyber counseling: anyone can claim to have expertise. In addition to requisite skills, cyber counselors also require sufficient time online for familiarizing themselves with web-based counseling tactics and technology. They require suitable.