Have you ever heard of video counseling or online counseling?  For many years, traditional face-to-face outpatient therapy sessions have been the norm.  As you are likely aware, these sessions typically occur in a brick-and-mortar setting such as a clinic, private practice, or office setting.  This involves a client having to travel to their therapist’s practice location for their session.

WHY IS TRADITIONAL FACE TO FACE COUNSELING DIFFICULT?

• Transportation.  Maybe you do not own a car or your car is broken down and unreliable.  Additionally, there may not be public transit near your home or your therapist’s office.
• Caregiver responsibility.  Having to arrange extra childcare can be a burden.  If you are caring for a parent or loved one who is ill you may not be able to afford extra time away from home.
• Accessibility.  Perhaps you live in a rural area where there just simply aren’t counselors near home.  Or you have a disability that makes traveling to areas outside your home especially burdensome.
• Convenience.  A typical counseling session is an hour in length.  When you have to add in travel time to and from your counselor’s office, that can be too much time to be able to fit in to your daily schedule.  Alternatively, if you can fit in an hour counseling appointment during a lunch break from work, for instance, this can be much more doable. Anything that makes work/life balance better is a big win.
• Unpredictable life events.  Maybe you’ve come down with a bad cold.  Or weather has taken a turn for the worse and snow or thunderstorms make you uneasy to travel away from your home.  So, if you are able to see your counselor from the comfort of your home, these unpredictable life events can be much less of a nuisance.

TECHNOLOGY IS ON OUR SIDE

With all of the progress technology has brought, this has allowed counseling to expand to a virtual setting.  What does that look like?  Online counseling is where therapists can meet with clients in an online counseling format.  These online counseling sessions typically involve a therapist and client logging into a secure, private video platform so that they can see each other and speak live together for their session.  This can allow clients to attend counseling in their home or private space where it is convenient for them. 

Interestingly, research has shown that online counseling and traditional face-to-face counseling have nearly the same effectiveness.  Online counseling is a convenient and effective modality for attending counseling.  Because getting help when struggling with your mental health is so important, anything that can make getting that help easier is vital.

ALL YOU NEED TO ATTEND VIDEO COUNSELING IS:

• Either a computer or mobile device
• A reliable Internet connection or Wi-Fi

Wellspring Women’s Counseling recognizes how busy women’s lives are, and hopes that by providing online video counseling, this makes getting help much easier.