actuality's online service enables you to access counselling or coaching from anywhere in the world. As part of my online work, I have linked with people in Canada, Italy, Eire, Germany, India, Holland, Israel, Spain, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the USA and various parts of the UK.
Online access to services is becoming more and more popular; it can be useful if you have restricted mobility, are very busy, live in an isolated area without easy access to a counsellor, travel away from home for work or feel that working online might be less intimidating.
If you are comfortable using technology and have the necessary equipment (see below), this can be a convenient way for you work with a counsellor. Although counselling via webcam cannot fully match the immediacy of face-to-face counselling, it is closer to the 'real thing' than chat- or text-based forms of online therapy which rely on typing and do not allow you to see the person with whom you are working. Please note that I do not offer counselling via e-mail.
You should not consider online counselling if you are uncomfortable with computers, if you have a chronic mental illness requiring intense treatment, or if you have serious intentions of hurting yourself or others (if you do, you might find it helpful to contact the Samaritans).
Before we start counselling, I will send you details of how the process works, how we will work and what the boundaries are. We will then conduct a short session to confirm that the audio-visual quality is adequate, after which we will agree a mutually convenient date for counselling.
It is important to make sure that you will not be disturbed for the duration of each session.
Payment for online counselling can be made using the PayPal link on the Fees page.
For online counselling, you will need access to a computer, a webcam and a broadband connection. You will also need the Skype video networking programme which you can download from the Skype website. Skype is an encrypted service, which means that it is more secure, thus ensuring confidentiality.
You can purchase webcams on several websites including:
Tel: +44 (0)7941 488 550
e-mail:actualitycounselling@gmail.com
"... access counselling from anywhere in the world."
Example of online session.
You can also access my services via GoMentor, a new service aimed at providing worldwide access to counsellors and coaches.
"It would be a poor result of all our anguish and our wrestling, if we won nothing but our old selves at the end of it"
George Eliot in Adam Bede (1859)
LATEST NEWS: E-therapy, equality and access
An exploration of the digital revolution and its power to transform the therapeutic relationship.
Therapy Today (February 2013)
Read the full article.