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Options for Online Marriage Counseling
With each new technological innovation, greater opportunities for counseling emerge. The internet in particular is regularly breaking new ways of both enhancing marriage counseling services, and making them more accessible. If you and your spouse are considering marriage counseling right now, know that you have the option of conducting it online.
Yes, you can now have ready access to professional assistance --- without having to leave your home!
The following are just some online marriage counseling services available on the web:
Educative Websites
There are no schools that teach how to live as a couple, and pre-internet age, you'd be hard-pressed to find experts willing to share their insights for free. Today, many marriage counselors readily share what they gleaned from years of experience in their websites and blogs. Many resources are interactive too; there are options for readers to comment, ask questions and discuss articles with other site visitors. Bulletin boards moderated by licensed therapists can now function like support groups for various issues.
Articles on how to improve intimacy, communication, and problem-solving as a couple, provide much needed information that can enhance a relationship and prevent the escalation of present issues. Resources on how to navigate marital issues are also more accessible, with many going beyond the typical pop psychology fluff and providing qualified advice.
For something more substantive than a 400-word article, you can also avail of learning resources in ebook, printable workbook, podcast and video course form. Interactive software has also made it possible for couples to take marital assessments online, example: compatibility quizzes for engaged couples, with results being interpreted by a trained mental health professional or a computer program.
This increased access to quality information about relationships and family life can go a long way in improving and healing your marriage. If it's quality advice that you need, there is no need to leave your homes and attend sessions. Answers are immediate, which at the very least can serve as “first aid” during crisis moments. But more importantly, the internet has allowed for a better understanding of what marriage counseling is and what it can do. If you're having problems in your marriage, your options are now clearer. The stereotype against counselors --- people you pay to tell you it's entirely your mother's fault --- is slowly but surely being debunked.
Professional Directories
One of the blessings of the internet for is the increased and convenient access to marriage counselors' contact information.
Before, finding a marriage counselor is a chore. While the yellow pages may have a listing of available counselors in your area, contact details on a page don't give you insight to factors that are important in selecting a counselor: credentials, specialization, location, theoretical orientation and even fees. Today, this information is readily available online.
Better yet, many marriage counselors offer free interviews online so that prospective clients can check if they've found the counselor they want to work with and this step can make it much easier for those uncertain about seeking help to approach a professional and establish a stronger commitment to achieving change through counseling.
Actual Counseling Sessions
But then, the question is: can actual marriage counseling sessions be conducted online?
The answer is yes. Marriage counseling can be done by email, instant messaging, audio and video conferencing.
Partners can email marriage counselors directly about their concern, and get a reply within 24 hours. Marriage counselors can also conduct sessions through instant messaging and webcam; husband and wife can be together in front of the computer, or they can attend the session from two different places --- something that is impossible with face-to-face sessions.
Online marriage counseling has increased couples' chances of getting targeted and quality help. For one, online counseling tends to be more affordable compared to traditional face-to face counseling. Communicating through the net means that counselors are spared from the expense of maintaining a clinic or an office, which helps in lowering their professional fee --- increasing your chances of getting experts you normally couldn't afford. And because you and your spouse just need a computer and a dsl connection to attend sessions, you save on transportation expenses --- a significant help if your preferred professional lives miles away.
Second, online marriage counselor gives you access to literally all the marriage counselors in the world. Before, your choices in mental health professionals are limited by geographical proximity. You can miss out on possibly more qualified counselors, or counselors who have expertise in your case. But with sessions handled remotely, you can avail of an expert even if he or she lives across the globe.
But the greatest advantage of online counseling is anonymity: a factor that make it conducive to disclosing potentially embarrassing issues. In fact, many people who choose to avail of marriage counseling online are people who otherwise might not have asked for help. Because a couple can be more open online, the counseling process can be more effective. Some couples also find it easier to open up about their marriage when they're in the comfort and privacy of their own homes. The clinical aspect of counseling is reduced, making counseling less intimidating and more empowering.
Of course as with any counseling medium, online counseling do have its disadvantages. In the case of counseling via email and instant message, non-verbal cues in communication --- integral in understanding what a person is really saying --- are missed by the counselor. This is a significant concern especially in relationship counseling, where a counselor needs to attend not just to the non-verbal behavior of the partner who is sharing, but the partner who is listening as well.
More so, important data needed by counselors in designing a treatment plan can get lost in the process of writing your thoughts and feelings. There is only so much you say on paper; almost everyone can speak faster than they can write. The act of editing your post can also take away from message that you want to send.
However, these disadvantages are not impossible to address. For the right cases and with the right marriage counselor, an online counseling session can be not just effective but sufficient.