36. 互联网咨询

电话咨询

我们想问读者一个问题：“你认为当一名电话咨询师比面对面咨询师更难，还是相反？”

我们确信你会对这个问题进行深思，因为这两种咨询方式在某些方面相似，但在其他方面却非常不同。在继续阅读之前，你可能希望思考一下主要的区别在哪里。

一个主要区别是，咨询师与求助者之间的接触性质在电话咨询和面对面咨询中显然有所不同，这肯定会对咨询过程产生影响。

有视觉接触的优势

电话咨询师（TC）比面对面咨询师拥有的信息少得多。由于电话咨询师看不到来电者，因此他们缺少大量的信息。相比之下，面对面咨询师可以直接观察求助者。通过这种视觉接触，他们可以初步判断求助者的情绪状态、应对能力、年龄、社会地位、文化背景和性格特征；他们也能更容易地判断求助者的分享意愿和对咨询关系的舒适度。从视觉观察中，面对面咨询师可以获得许多电话咨询师无法获取的微妙线索。最重要的是，面对面咨询师可以通过肢体语言和面部表情传达非言语信息。这在电话中很难做到。你有没有试过在电话中微笑？这并不是最容易的事情，对吧？你有没有怀疑过电话那头的人是否在哭泣？在面对面的情况下，那些明显的泪水会让你毫无疑问。

电话咨询师只有非视觉线索来判断来电者的反应

建立关系的时间

两种咨询方式之间另一个显著的区别在于咨询师与求助者建立关系的能力。面对面咨询师有更多时间通过语言和非语言线索建立关系。很少有人会在咨询开始的前一两分钟内离开。但对于电话咨询师来说，情况则完全不同。如果在通话早期没有建立起一定程度的信任，来电者可能会挂断电话，从而终止咨询过程！

本章知识点阐述

进一步阐述知识点

1. 电话咨询与面对面咨询的比较

相似之处

目的：两者都是为了帮助求助者解决问题。

技能要求：都需要咨询师具备良好的沟通技巧和同理心。

不同之处

接触性质：主要在于咨询师与求助者之间的接触性质不同，这会影响咨询过程。

2. 有视觉接触的优势

信息量

观察细节：面对面咨询师可以直接观察求助者，获取大量信息，包括情绪状态、应对能力、年龄、社会地位、文化背景和性格特征等。

非言语信息

肢体语言和面部表情：面对面咨询师可以通过肢体语言和面部表情传达非言语信息，这在电话中很难做到。例如，微笑和眼泪在面对面交流中更容易被察觉，而在电话中则难以传达。

建立信任

视觉线索：面对面咨询师更容易通过视觉线索建立信任关系，而电话咨询师则缺乏这些线索。

3. 建立关系的时间

面对面咨询

时间优势：咨询师有更多时间通过语言和非语言线索建立关系。很少有人会在咨询开始的前一两分钟内离开。

电话咨询

时间紧迫：咨询师需要在短时间内迅速建立信任，否则来电者可能会挂断电话，终止咨询过程。这要求电话咨询师具备快速建立信任和维持对话的能力。

总结

电话咨询和面对面咨询各有优劣。电话咨询师面临的主要挑战是缺乏视觉线索，这使得他们难以全面了解求助者的情况，也增加了建立信任的难度。而面对面咨询师可以通过丰富的视觉信息和非言语线索更好地理解求助者，建立更牢固的信任关系。因此，电话咨询师需要特别注意通过语言和倾听技巧来弥补这些不足，迅速建立信任，确保咨询的有效性。这些知识点不仅有助于理解两种咨询方式的差异，还能指导咨询师在实际工作中更好地应对各种挑战。

36 Internet counselling In the last chapter we asked you to consider whether it would be harder to be a TC or a face-to-face counsellor. In this chapter we introduce another option: internet (online} counselling. How does internet counselling compare to telephone counselling and face-to-face counselling? The answer to this question is, we feel, quite complex due to the complexity of internet counselling itself. Part of this complexity comes from the ever-changing nature of the online counselling environment — it is relatively new and growing fast. One aspect that continues to grow is the many different modes of internet counselling now available. MODES OF INTERNET COUNSELLING There are many options available for people who choose to seek counselling support online. Here, we limit our discussion to individual counselling; however, we do acknowledge that there are many more counselling support options available including group counselling and support groups, self-help, psychoeducation or bibliotherapy, structured programs and more. For interested read el’s, we have briefly explored these options in the context of using technology to support young people in our book Counselling Adolescents: The Proactive Approach for Young People (2015).

Email real-time chat, video conferencing and virtual platforms can all be used to develop a distance counselling relationship

We have listed the different options available for individual internet counselling in Table 36.1, along with some examples of these modes that are currently available online. Perhaps you would like to explore the examples provided to get a sense of how counselling is presented and delivered online. Internet counselling can be provided via: 1 email 2 real-time chat 3 video conferencing 4 virtual settings.

Table 36.1 Modes of internet counselling 306 MODE OF COUNSELLINGEXAMPLES Email- The Australian Breastfeeding Association (breastfeeding.asn.au) provides email and telephone counselling support for breastfeeding mothers.

beyondblue (beyondblue.org.au) provides email counselling for anxiety and depression. It also offers telephone and chat counselling.
The Butterfly Foundation (thebutterflyfoundation.org.au) provides support via email counselling for individuals with eating disorders. They also offer telephone and chat counselling. Real-time chat- Counselling Online (counsellingonline.org.au) provides drug and alcohol counselling via chat and telephone.
eheadspace (eheadspace.org.au) provides chat counselling for young people. In addition to telephone counselling, it also has face-to-face counselling centres.
Kids Helpline (www.kidshelp.com.au) provides chat counselling for young people. It also offers telephone and email counselling. Video conferencing■ The Centre for Human Potential (cfhp.com.au) provides counselling support via Skype. It also offers face-to-face counselling. -- Psynaptic Psychology Counselling (ppccounselling.com) is an online counselling service providing support via the WebEx video conferencing system (webex.com.au).
USC Telehealth (usctelehealth.com) is a US-based online counselling service which has developed a video conferencing system spec fically for online counselling. Virtual settings- The Center for Brain Health at the University of Texas (brainhealth.utdallas.edu) has developed a virtual world specifically for online counselling.
Reaction Grid (ReactionGrid.com) and InWorld Solutions (inWorldSolutions.com) are companies that can be hired to develop virtual worlds that can be used as platforms for online counselling.
Second Life (secondlife.com) is a commercially available virtual world that has been used by counsellors as a platform for online counselling.

One way to establish a counselling relationship over the internet is by sharing emails. This may be limited to a single exchange or develop into multiple email exchanges. Just as with telephone counselling, the counsellor s job can be challenging when using email to communicate as visual cues are not available. As we discussed in Chapter 35, a lack of visual cues can make it difficult to identify a person’s presentation, feelings and response to the counsellor. In addition, verbal cues such as tone of voice, pace and breaks or pauses in a person’s narrative are also missing, which may increase the potential for misunderstanding the feelings and thoughts expressed by the person seeking help. There are many ways to make feelings and thoughts more explicit, such as the use of different fonts, formats, acronyms, emoticons and punctuation. We will explore the use of these techniques in more detail later in this chapter. While the lack of visual and verbal cues do present challenges for die counsellor, there are potential advantages. Many individuals who find sharing face to face too challenging may find the anonymity afforded by email disinhibiting, and therefore be able to disclose more information. 1 here also exists a decreased power imbalance, providing the person seeking help with a greater sense of control over the counselling process. While this can support disclosure, there is also the possibility that the person will exercise this power to end the counselling relationship quite abruptly. Consequently, the counsellor has to work hard to engage with each individual and prevent them from early withdrawal. It is very easy to simply not send another email or to discontinue a chat session. REAL-TIME CHAT While connecting via email is asynchronous (that is, there is a gap between replies), real-time chat, as its name implies, is synchronous. This can present an advantage over email communication as you do receive more information: for example, breaks or pauses in a person’s reply may provide the counsellor with clues as to information the person needs to reflect on or is finding difficult to share. In other ways, chatting over the internet can be more challenging as the counsellor does not get as much time to reflect on and form their response. 3 here also remains a lack of visual and verbal cues for the counsellor to draw on. This lack of cues may be minimised to some degree using video conferencing technology7. VIDEO CONFERENCING In some ways, counselling via a video messaging service, such as Skype, is more like face-to-face counselling than telephone counselling, in that the counsellor has access to more visual cues. The counsellor and the person seeking help can also communicate verbally, rather than via text. This can be a good option for people who are not as comfortable using online text-based approaches. One disadvantage of video conferencing is the potential for technical difficulties; being cut off mid session certainly isn’t helpful to the therapeutic process! Another concern is the security of video-calling. Clearly, both the person seeking help and the counsellor want to avoid unauthorised access to their sessions.

VIRTUAL SETTINGS A less common, but growing, option for internet counselling is to meet in a virtual environment. In this instance, the person seeking help and the counsellor are represented online by avatars of their own choosing. The avatars then ‘meet m a virtual setting and communicate either by text or verbally, using a microphone, lhe virtual setting could be anything from a virtual counselling room to a beach, a rainforest or even a completely imaginary environment. While visual cues are again lost, the choice of avatar does provide the counsellor with a visual clue as to the individual’s self image. Discussing a person’s choice of avatar may reveal important insights for both them and the counsellor about the person’s view of self. In saying this, we would encourage the counsellor to guard against projecting assumptions, particularly negative ones, about the person seeking help. How, for example, would you feel about engaging in a counselling relationship with a demon? What thoughts and feelings would this evoke? If you are comfortable engaging with a demon avatar, what type of avatar do you think you would find challenging? Depending on the mode of communication, verbal cues may or may not be present in a virtual session. Readers interested in finding out more about counselling in a virtual environment may like to read the article on avatar therapy by Nagel and Anthony (2011). You will notice in Table 36.1 that many services offer multiple modes of internet counselling, and sometimes telephone and face-to-face approaches are also offered alongside online modes. This mixing of modes and approaches is very common. What could be some advantages to offering counselling support via multiple internet, telephone and face-to-face approaches? What are some disadvantages? SUITABILITY OF INTERNET COUNSELLING FOR THE COUNSELLOR AND PERSON SEEKING HELP l he unique nature of internet counselling requires specific skills and characteristics from both counsellor and the person seeking help. As such, we would suggest that not all counsellors and individuals are suited to online work. We list a number of questions in Table 36.2 to consider for both the counsellor and the person seeking help before commencing internet counselling. The questions in fable 36.2 cover the following skills and characteristics: 1 counselling micro-skills 2 computer skills 3 personal characteristics 4 presenting issues. COUNSELLING MICRO-SKILLS Before considering the commencement of support over the internet, the counsellor needs to be well-practised in the counselling micro-skills described throughout Parts 2 to 4 of this book. We will discuss in more detail how these micro-skills apply in the section on the internet counselling process. Here, we would like to focus on the differences between face-to-face and internet counselling more generally. At the ver}" least, some level of visual cues is lost when using video conferencing, therefore making it not only more challenging for the counsellor to accurately understand a person’s presenting concerns and related feelings but also to relay their presence, empathy and concern to them. This effect can be increased when using text-based modes, as both visual and verbal cues are lost. Therefore, the counsellor must be ver}" skilled in adapting their face-to-face counselling micro-skills to the online environment in order to build an effective and supportive counselling relationship.

COMPUTER SKILLS It is important for both the counsellor and the person seeking help to be computer literate and familiar with communicating online before commencing internet counselling. It is also essential to have the required technology. You may need to consider your computer specifications, video, microphone, headphones, internet connection and access to technology support m case of a failure in any one of these components. Finally, it is important to be familiar with cyber-culture; for example, how people interact online and how the virtual environment is perceived. It is important to recognise that for many internet users, their virtual life, including the relationships formed online, are very real. Gan you think of any other computer skills and requirements that would be useful for a counsellor or individual who is considering internet counselling?

It is important for an internet counsellor to be well-practised in using micro-skills face to face

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS Perhaps the most important personal characteristic to have as an internet counsellor is flexibility. Individuals who seek support online may do so because they find it difficult to access traditional face-to-face support, which is often restricted to the working day. How would you feel about working after-hours? Some individuals may also request impromptu sessions. Indeed, this is how some of the services listed in fable 36.1 offer support. Do you feel this is appropriate? How would you respond to an impromptu request for support from someone? Another area you may have to be flexible in is the mode of internet support. Are you happy to offer multiple modes or would you prefer to stick with one? I here is no right or wrong answer for many of these questions — it depends on what the counsellor is comfortable offering. However, we would encourage any potential internet counsellors to be upfront from the start about how they offer services. You could achieve this by having accessible and comprehensive information about your availability, mode of support, how often and when people can expect responses and how you charge for services. What other information would be important to provide to individuals seeking internet counselling support?

PRESENTING ISSUES As with face-to-face counselling, it is important to practise within your area of competence and to seek supervision if you are unsure about working with a particular individual or presenting issue. More specifically, the suitability of internet counselling has been questioned for a number of people. For example, it can be challenging to provide appropriate crisis support for a person who chooses to remain anonymous. If they only provide their email address as a means of contact, how do you ensure their safety? Some ideas are provided in the ethical considerations section of this chapter. Other groups potentially not suited for online support are those experiencing severe mental health challenges and those requiring medication, for example, individuals experiencing psychosis or severe depression and anxiety. This doesn’t mean that internet counselling cannot occur, but it may be necessary to also link the person seeking help with appropriate face-to-face support. It can be challenging to provide appropriate crisis support over the internet

THE INTERNET COUNSELLING PROCESS Once you have determined your suitability and that of the person seeking support, how do you go about engaging in online support? Again, this can be complicated and depends on many factors. Do you intend to offer short- or long-term support? Would you prefer to stick with one mode or are you happy to offer counselling via mixed modes (email, chat, video conferencing, face-to-face, telephone)? Clearly, how support is offered and, therefore, the skills required, will vary. However, the counselling process as presented in Figure 16.1 (see page 135) can be useful as a framework for internet counselling. It is important to recognise, as highlighted in Chapter 35, that not all counselling relationships will follow these stages exactly, but it can be helpful to recognise the steps involved in the counselling process, including when to follow the person’s lead and when to guide the process to meet the person’s expressed need.

Table 36.2 Questions to consider before engaging in internet counselling 310 Questions for the counsellorAm 1 experienced and do 1 feel comfortable counselling in a face-to-face setting? Am 1 well-practised in using counselling micro-skills in a face-to-face setting? Do 1 know how to adapt these skills to the online environment? Am 1 familiar with cyber-culture? Am 1 flexible? Does my lifestyle or work schedule allow for flexibility? Questions for the counsellor and the person seeking supportAm 1 comfortable communicating online via text? Or via a microphone? Am I computer literate? Do 1 have access to the required technology? Questions for the person seeking supportDoes the person seeking help require face-to-face support? Is the person seeking support experiencing severe mental health challenges, such as severe depression/ anxiety or psychosis, or do they require medication that needs monitoring? Are they in need of crisis support?

PREPARATION A similar counselling process can be used as a framework for both face-to-face and internet counselling

Before you engage in any form of counselling, it is important to prepare yourself so you can be as effective as possible. It is difficult to support someone else if you are feeling in need of support yourself! We have made four suggestions m the previous chapter for preparing for telephone counselling, which can also be used to prepare for internet counselling. We have listed these ideas again for you below. What other ways would be helpful for preparing for internet counselling? 1 Talk through your own problems with your supervisor. 2 Own your intruding thoughts by telling a colleague that they exist. 3 Use relaxation, meditation or prayer, depending on your spiritual orientation. 4 Engage in physical exercise. JOINING As with telephone counselling, an online counsellor doesn’t have as long to connect with the person seeking help compared to face-to-face counselling. It is veiy easy for an individual to end the session with a quick click of the mouse or simply not to return an email. As highlighted before, forming this connection can also be challenging in light of the decrease in, or complete absence of, visual and verbal cues. Micro-skills particularly important when joining with the person seeking help are reflection and paraphrasing. These two micro-skills are perhaps even more essential in internet counselling as there is a need for more clarification to compensate for the loss of visual and verbal cues. It can be much easier to misinterpret a written statement without the accompanying tone of voice and body language that provide an emotional context. You may also need to use more direct questioning to confirm a person’s emotion or implied thoughts if you are unsure. We discuss the use of questioning online in more detail next. In addition to connecting with the person seeking help, there are also a number of other goals for the online counsellor when joining with the individual. Obtaining appropriate information early in an initial internet counselling session is helpful for determining the person’s identity so that follow-up is possible. Information gathering allows for screening and assessment to determine whether the internet is an appropriate mode for the person seeking help. Counsellors may also engage in contracting and setting ground rules during the joining phase. It is a good idea to discuss ethical concerns specific to internet counselling, or to provide information about these to the person seeking help prior to the first session, so that they can make an informed choice about whether to continue online counselling. We discuss ethical concerns in more depth later in this chapter. Achieving these goals requires skill in order to introduce them at the right time and in an understanding way. You don’t want to overwhelm the person with a barrage of closed questions! ACTIVE LISTENING As in the joining phase, reflection and paraphrasing are two important micro-skills during the active listening stage in order to show the person seeking help that they are being heard and understood. To support this process, clarification by using questions may be required. However, questions need to be approached with care. Have you ever been the recipient of an abrupt question via email or chat? How did it make you feel? It is very easy to come across as more harsh than intended online without the softening effect of visual and verbal cues. Therefore, much more care must be taken when introducing and wording a question. Another important micro- skill, especially when using chat, is the use of minimal encouragers to show that you are still listening. You could, for example, type ‘Hmmm ...’ or ‘1 see’. How else could you let the person seeking help know that you are still listening? Due to the increase in the potential for misinterpretation and miscommunication, it is also important for the counsellor to monitor judgements, assumptions, interpretations and projections throughout this process of active listening. How might you remind yourself to identify the development of any negative projections? The lack of visual and verbal cues can also lead to an increased sense of privacy or anonymity for an individual. This can have the advantage of increasing disclosure via what is known at the disinhibition effect. The disinhibition effect can also, however, increase transference and counter-transference; this is certainly something to be aware of so that you are able to reflect on its possible presence and respond accordingly. EMPHASIS ON EMOTIONS Just as content can be misunderstood when communicating online, so can emotions. How do you usually identify others’ emotions? While people will explicidy state their emotions, counsellors usually draw on the visual and verbal cues of the person seeking help to identify their emotions, cues which are reduced or missing in the case of internet counselling. This can be particularly’ significant when a person’s expressed feelings don’t match the emotion evident via their visual and verbal cues. When you are unsure of an individual’s emotional state, it could be helpful to provide a tentative interpretation by reflecting and seeking clarification with a carefully worded question. Apart from the use of feeling words, there are many ways that individuals may7 express their emotions via text. For example, many people make use of emoticons (smiley faces) and acronyuns for feelings or other expressions. Table 36.3 has some examples of emoticons and acronyms (both feelings and more general abbreviations) commonly’ used in written communication via the internet. A more comprehensive list can be found at PC.net under the ‘Online slang’ and ‘Emoticon’ tabs. Formatting and punctuation can also be used to convey7 feeling through text, for example, using bold, capital letters or exclamation marks can be used to increase the intensity’ of an emotion.

Table 36.3 Examples of commonly used acronyms and emoticons EXAMPLESMEANINGS AcronymsAFK BBS bf cya gf LOL ROFL SOS thxAway From Keyboard Be Back Soon Boyfriend See You Girlfriend Laugh Out Loud Rolling On the Floor Laughing Someone Over Shoulder Thanks Emoticonsor f XD or =

( or :( or =( :_( or :'( =/ Xd O.oHappy Laughing Sad Crying Mad Angry Confused ^different Surprised :O

Pitch of voice can also be represented by formatting. For example, individuals may use different fonts, colour, bolding, exclamation marks, capitals, repeated letters (sooooo ...) and so on. The pace of a person’s narrative can also be implied by aspects of the text. An unpunctuated block of text which contains changes in subject matter without pause or time for reflection suggests a fast pace which may imply a sense of urgency or anxiety. In contrast, an email with minimum content may imply a slower pace that could reflect a person’s difficulty disclosing information or putting their thoughts and feelings into words. A little more information about pace is available when using chat, as you get a sense of any pauses or breaks in the dialogue with the person seeking help. These breaks could be equivalent to breaks in eye contact in face-to-face counselling, or suggest that the person has difficulty sharing certain information. Other clues to an individual’s emotional state include layout, presentation, sty le, and the avatar or symbol chosen by the person to represent themselves.

There are many ways to express feelings online including feeling words, emoticons, acronyms, font, formatting and style

We feel it is important to note that many of the market's for emotion could be affected by many factors other than emotional state, such as gender, culture, disability, faith, family of origin, Current situation or circumstances at the time of writing, or the social and economic context. This brings us back to our initial suggestion of asking for clarification if you are unsure of an individual’s emotions.

EMPHASIS ON THOUGHTS Due to the use of text to communicate via most online modes, internet counselling is well-suited to word-based therapies, such as Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (Chapter 20), Narrative Therapy (Chapters 13 and 21) and the use of metaphor (Chapter 11). What other word-based therapy could be successfully adapted to internet counselling? EMPHASIS ON BEHAVIOUR As with an emphasis on thoughts, when working with a person to support behaviour change, word-based therapies or strategies can work well online. Some skills to consider include confrontation (Chapter 19), Motivational Interviewing (Chapter 29) and solution-focused (Chapter 22) approaches. As we discussed earlier, more care is required when introducing and wording confrontation statements and questions online. CLOSURE As a session or counselling relationship is coming to a close, it can be useful to draw on summary skills in order to outline the session and prepare an individual for closure. Preparing someone for closure is particularly important as there is an increased risk of the person terminating internet counselling prematurely, compared to face-to-face counselling. 1 he process of closure as described in Chapter 35 can also be useful in bringing an internet counselling session to an end. Depending on the needs of the person seeking help, it may also be necessary to make appropriate referral options available during the closure stage of internet counselling. When, for example, might it be necessary to refer a person to face-to-face counselling? Alternatively, you may like to provide the individual with follow-up options. However, when providing follow-up options it is important to set clear post-counselling boundaries, as the borders between personal and professional can be lessened online, as we discuss in more detail below. As with any form of counselling, it is important for the counsellor to debrief regularly with other counsellors or their supervisor. Debriefing helps the counsellor to release emotions experienced as a result of their counselling work, thereby protecting against burnout and ensuring they remain effective. We discuss the debrief process in more detail in Chapter 35 and other self-care strategies to manage burnout in Chapter 42. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS While we do cover ethical concerns in Chapter 40, we feel it is important to end this chapter by discussing some of the ethical considerations that are unique to the online environment. Drawing on your own personal experience of using the internet, what are some potential ethical concerns that come to mind regarding online counselling? How might you proactively address these concerns? In the coming discussion we draw on the guidelines produced by the Australian Psychological Society (APS, 2011) for using technology in counselling. A number of organisations also exist to support and provide resources for professionals practising online including the International Society for Mental Health Online (ismho.org), the Association for Counselling and Therapy Online (vvww.acto-uk.org) and the Online Therapy institute (onlinetherapyinstitute.com).

COUNSELLOR EXPERTISE Providing counselling over the internet presents a number of unique ethical considerations

As we noted earlier in this chapter, it is important for counsellors to first be well-practised in face-to-face counselling before moving into internet counselling. Once face-to-face micro-skills are well- developed, counsellors can then look at adapting their skills to the online environment. Internet counsellors also need to increase their knowledge and understanding about working online, including the current research into adapting counselling skills and strategies to the internet, it is important for internet counsellors to become familiar with any relevant legal and registration requirements. Is it, for example, OK to offer counselling to people who reside outside your registration area? Counsellors may develop their skills and knowledge through training and supervision. INFORMED CONSENT As with any counselling relationship, informed consent must be obtained from the person seeking help before commencing counselling. This is particularly important when counselling online for two reasons. Firstly, as internet counselling is a relatively new field, it is important that people are properly informed about the advantages and disadvantages, effectiveness and risks so that they understand the potential limitations before commencing support. Secondly, as mentioned earlier in this chapter, a person choosing to remain anonymous can present difficulties when faced with a crisis situation. It is also important to identify an individual to ensure the service offered is appropriate. For example, what if parental consent is required? What might be some ways for internet counsellors to identify the person seeking help? CONFIDENTIALITY During the informed consent process, it is important to highlight the way that confidentiality7 could be limited by using the internet. In particular, it is important to share how the individual’s privacy^ is being protected from unauthorised access. This might include how their electronic data and information are stored and backed up, and what security measures are used, such as password protection and data encryption. Guidance or ideas may also have to be shared with the person seeking help regarding protecting the privacy of their counselling session, for example, password protection and not forwarding on personal information to others.

BOUNDARIES The internet is used extensively for developing personal relationships; therefore, there is an increased need to protect professional boundaries. One way to maintain boundaries is to highlight them before commencing an online counselling relationship. Some questions to consider include: • How quickly and often will you reply to emails? • How long will chat sessions run for? • Will you schedule sessions or reply to emails after-hours? • Will you offer impromptu sessions at a person’s request, or only pre-scheduled sessions? Maintaining your professional boundaries can also be made easier by using professional language. Learning summary There are a growing number of modes available for internet counselling, including email, real-time chat, video conferencing and virtual settings. Before engaging in internet counselling, counsellors need to consider their Suitability with respect to micro-skills, computer skills and their personal characteristics. It is also important for counsellors to consider the suitability of the person seeking help regarding their computer skills and presenting issue. While each counselling relationship is unique, the process of internet counselling can follow the same stages as face-to-face counselling, including preparation, joining, active listening, emphasis on emotions, emphasis on thoughts, emphasis on behaviour, and closure. All counselling micro-skills are important in internet counselling, however, they may need to be adapted. Internet counsellors may have to seek clarification more frequently, word their questions and confrontations more carefully, and make more use of reflection, paraphrasing and written minimal encouragers. There are a number of unique ethical considerations when using internet counselling. Guidelines produced by the APS encourage counsellors to consider implications with respect to counsellor expertise, informed consent confidentiality and professional boundaries. References and further reading Australian Psychological Society (APS) 2011, Guidelines for Providing Psychological Services and Products I 'sing the Internet and Telecommunications Technologies, APS, Melbourne. Evans, J. 2009, Online Goan selling and Guidance Skills: A Practical Resource for Trainees and Practitioners, SAC IE, London. Geldard, K., Geldard, D. & Yin Foo, K. 2015, Counselling Adolescents: The Proactive Approach for Young People, 4th cdn, SAGE, London. Kraus, K., Stricker, G. & Speyer, C. 201 1, Online Counseling: A Handbook for Mental Health Professionals, 2nd edn, Elsevier Academic Press, London. Nagel, D.M. & Anthony, K. 201 L ‘Avatar Therapy’, The Gapa Quarterly, Issue 3, 6—9.

PART 7 PROFESSIONAL ISSUES In this, the final part of the book, we focus on professional issues of which every counsellor needs to be aware. We consider the counselling environment, keeping records, cultural issues, confidentiality and other ethical issues, counsellor training and the need for supervision and looking after yourself, faking these issues into account is essential for maintaining our effectiveness as counsellors.