Skype counselling - How it works and what would Freud say?
Online therapy, e-therapy or ‘Skypeotherapy’ as it is also known reaches people who wouldn’t normally consider accessing counselling. It’s also the therapy of choice for many young people who feel safer being a step removed from a ‘real’ therapist as well as more comfortable with this technology.
Online therapy has a number of advantages. Firstly your choice of counsellor is not limited to where you live and secondly there is no need to travel to see your therapist every week. The main advantage however is the convenience and flexibility it offers potential clients who can fit counselling around their work and social life and hence is becoming increasingly popular.
Online therapy can provide a good counselling experience (and in some cases a better experience) compared to traditional counselling (i.e. two people in a room). Some clients are able to achieve their aims and get to their main issues more quickly as well as show a greater willingness to disclose personal information which is conducive to successful counselling.
My own experience of counselling via Skype is that it can be extremely effective for some people and makes therapy more palatable for nervous clients. It is also helpful when my (non-Skype) clients need to travel either for work or personal reasons and means they can still have regular counselling sessions.
My own feeling is that Freud ‘the father of psychoanalysis’ would have approved of online therapy. He was avant-garde and introduced the idea of the therapy ‘couch’ after all which was designed to help his patients relax and aid his access to their unconscious. Online therapy then might be the modern day equivalent of the ‘couch’!