I have read so many articles relating to online counseling, where the “expert” argues that online counseling is inferior to in-person counseling, because of the lack of non-verbal cues that the therapist normally sees when interacting with a client. It is argued that since the counselor can’t see the client, this form of interaction by online chat is not as effective as in-person counseling. I have seen little reference to date to new audio-visual chat options, which allow more verbal cues, but these writers tend to either completely disregard (or are unaware of) a form of therapy that has existed for many years and is very effective without non-verbal communication – telephone counseling.

An example of an effective telephone counseling service is LifeLine:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifeline_(Counselling_service)

LifeLine has been offering phone therapy for almost 50 years (since 1963) and has been highly praised for its contribution to the mental health of millions.

Perhaps before deciding that counseling via newer technologies is inferior, researchers and therapists should actually see what therapy has been done for generations without the aid of visual cues.

For telephone, email or audio-visual counseling via Skype, contact us.