anne stokes bristol june 2013. online counselling anne stokes

Anne Stokes Bristol June 2013


Online Counselling

Anne Stokes


An Introduction to Online Counselling


Why might clients access Online Counselling?

• Irregular working hours

• Working away from home/workplace

• Transport problems

• Caring roles

• Disability

• Preference


How it happens

• Asynchronous - by email

- responses in agreed time

- acknowledgement emails

• Synchronous – in real time

- agreed time as in f2f

- secure chat room


Value within a Counselling Service

• Greater flexibility and choice for clients

• USP

• May reduce time away from workplace (EAPs)

• May offer greater diversity of counsellors and specialisms as location is irrelevant


Counselling Services might have to:

• Train counsellors

• Set up pilot schemes

• Explore supervision of e-counselling

• Ensure secure systems are in place


Concerns

• Counsellors need training in online work

• Confidentiality

• How to allocate ‘sessions’ – e.g. does one email exchange equal one session?

• Technology failure

• Effectiveness?


Using words in Emails

• Consider the value of words, emphasis and image

• Consider what guidelines you might give your potential clients about their writing

• Explore different ways of building your therapeutic email relationship and what factors might be important in sending them.


Words have to convey

• Warmth, empathy, UPR, genuineness

• Your understanding of the client’s issues

• Your own feelings where appropriate

• Tentativeness

• Summary of issues

• Focus of work


Using words to convey meaning

•Choice of font

•Size of font• Colour of font• Using ! Or …

• Using :-) or :-( or ;-)

• Typing <sigh> <nodding> <wink>


Using creativity

• Your client could write you the story of their life

• Or send you images as well.

* Or write a poem


What guidelines do you want to give?

• Do you want to limit the amount they write?

• What happens if they write “too much”?

• Do you want them to sit down and write “as it comes” without returning to change or correct it?

• Should the amount be part of the contract?


Working with emails

• Is each email going to be a ‘stand alone’?• Do they become a long string of emails all

attached to each other?• Do you add to the client’s text to build a

dialogue perhaps using a different colour/style of font to show the different voices?

• Do you edit the client’s text, keeping only portions you are responding to?


How will you send your email?

• Put the therapeutic part into a Word document which is a file attachment with a covering email?

• Send open emails to a remote email address such as hotmail?

• Use encryption to secure your emails?

• Use a digital signature so the client knows the email has come from you?


Example of email dialogue DS: I don’t know where to begin really, I’m worried about my marriage,

my children, my mother. I just seem to have stopped thinking again …I just hope you can help me sort myself out. It’s all such a muddle.

GJ: …Do you think it might help if you try and focus on just one thing in your reply? I’m also aware that you feel you are reacting just like you have in the past and …I really want to say ‘slow down, take a deep breath’ let’s talk through things one at a time.

DS: I have been thinking a lot since your last email. I agree with what you say about taking one thing at a time. So I’ve decided to put the latest crisis on one side until I feel stronger, then I can deal with it better. Worrying about everything doesn’t work – I really need to concentrate on one thing at a time.’

GJ: Thinking aloud here <what a huge change F is making>. Even though you’re in a crisis right now, you’re not ‘frozen’ by it this time. You’re thinking things through more objectively. <smiling to myself here> This is a big step forward and a much more manageable way to look at things.


Synchronous sessions

• Can seem more spontaneous

• May feel more like f2f

• Can be slow if ‘two finger’ typing

• Have to overcome fears about ‘typos’

• May allow use of emoticons

• Have to be scheduled


Example of live session• Anne says:

Can you say a bit more about the chain of events?• Mona says:

I can’t understand why this is happening. I now isolate myself almostcompletely and I spend most of my time alone.

• Mona says: • Mona says:

It’s a mess isn’t it? LOL• Anne says:

So there’s the concern over the promotion, what’s happened inthe past (that chain of events) . . .

• Anne says:Isolating yourself, the effect on your well-being, and that sense of nottrusting anyone . . .

• Anne says:Have I got that right?


Example of initial emailHelloI am struggling to cope at work at the present. The future feels veryuncertain, I might lose my job due to restructuring: and I am scared aboutwhat comes next. There is talk about the possibility of redundancy andthis feels very bleak. I am not yet 50 and have 10 years left on mymortgage.

If the department are able to offer me another job it could be in any workarea. I haven’t done mainstream work for over 10 years and the thoughtof retraining at my age is daunting.

I have noticed that I can be easily irritated at work, and when I go home Idon’t want to do anything. My partner has taken early retirement and he isenjoying this lovely weather. It is so hard to come in every day and just carry on.

Any help you can offer would be appreciated. I’m not sure how this will work…but Iam willing to try anything that may make me feel a bit better. Thank you for listening. Brenda


Email for you to respond toDear Julie…thanks for your email last week. I’m happy enough with the terms of the contract you explained to me.

The problems I’m having are not work related at all It’s to do with home. My wife has recently left meafter starting a relationship with someone she met in an online chat room – she has left me and thechildren and moved in with this bloke. It had been going on for ages and when I found out I couldn’tcope with it – I started drinking too much of an evening and going to the pub at lunch time, sometimesI would stay all afternoon.

Anyway when my wife left, I didn’t know what to do. You see we have two young kids 6 and 8 and sheleft them with me. I’ve got to get them to school in a morning and pick them up after school. Myparents have been able to help up to now but they’re not well themselves so I need to sort somethingelse out – but I don’t know where to start.I told my manager at the meeting last week and he was understanding and said he would do what hecould to help and asked me to think about it and let him know - we are supposed to be meeting againnext week. I don't think he's putting me on performance management yet but he said I’ve got to getmy flexi, my work and my home commitments sorted out – I don’t really want to be here – it’s all just amess. If you can suggest anything I would be grateful.

Rob

Over to you!

• What are your concerns?

• What questions do you have?

• What are you ‘sitting on’?


Do feel free to contact me later

• [email protected]

• www.onlinetrainingforcounsellors.co.uk


mailto:[email protected]

http://www.onlinetrainingforcounsellors.co.uk/

anne stokes bristol june 2013. online counselling anne stokes

Documents

anne stokes bristol

work slide

online counselling slide

irrelevant slide

place slide

poem slide

email responses

covering email