Ten percent of the population struggles with an issue that could be helped by a counselor at any given time. Some issues are simple and take only one session to get help for. While others are more serious, including obsessive compulsive disorder, other chronic anxiety issues or maybe depression that has lasted for more than a few weeks. Some wait too long to reach out for help. They don’t realize that it’s not an issue of “weakness.” Stigma is still really strong and many avoid seeking online counseling because they have the notion that one must be critically mentally ill.

Some could be in denial while still others could be plain embarrassed. At times like these, when offline counseling is not a viable option, one could consider what has come to be known as online counseling. Online counseling, as the name suggests is counseling offered by professional practitioners online. It could take the form of e-mail correspondence, chat sessions, voice calls or even video conferencing over the Internet.

There are advantages and some drawbacks to online counseling that you should be aware of in making your choice. Online counseling offers great anonymity, flexibility to do sessions by phone any place or time you’d like and is a cost-effective way to get help.

Online counseling is especially useful if you are easily embarrassed or maybe you live too far for it to be convenient to travel to appointments. You can literally do online counseling while sitting outside your office enjoying lunch.

When you use online counseling you are accessing the same level of expertise as if you were sitting with a professional. One cautionary statement - always make sure the counselor you are considering working with has a credentials check available as a link off their site. Each of the states in the US have a licensing body. Make sure your counselor is certified to help you and don’t fear picking up the phone or emailing and asking questions as you need to.

To balance things out, you need to know that online counseling has its drawbacks as well. Much of communication is non-verbal and therefore the counselor may be at a disadvantage when they cannot follow your body language. Other times, when the need of the client grows stronger than what an online counselor can deal with, a therapist may not be familiar with local resources to refer you to.

Even reputed online counseling professionals, who are otherwise good, might indulge in underhand practices. Like providing multiple online counseling sessions to several people while charging each of them exclusive rates. And finally, the nature of the internet, and especially of information transmitted over it, could prove to be a threat to your online counseling experience. Care must be taken to ensure that your personal information does not fall into untrustworthy hands.

Whatever you choose however, do remember that online counseling is one of the ways in which you could help yourself or a loved one deal with issues. Use it with care as you would any other medical or mental treatment. And there is no reason why you should not benefit from online counseling.

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