Founded May 2011

I started with the traditional face to face interaction with my clients, but as my Professional online therapy service grew, I had to fully transition away from the traditional therapy setting and concentrate on providing online therapy by connecting to people through internet. I was also at the time providing support and consultations for a local charity for four years. Paying people to develop and build my websites was way too expensive for me, so I had to learn and adapt by developing new skills, such as becoming a self-taught web designer builder and developer, graphic artist, content creator, video and sound engineer. Although I made my fair share of mistakes, I managed to figure it out and make it work in the end.

One of the very first online therapists

Starting with an idea in 2005 and looking into the technology involved, I progressed to using volunteers, after completing my first diploma in 2006. I set-up an experimental, free online hypnotherapy service using volunteers, after passing my counselling and psychotherapy study, I started to test online counselling via video with volunteers for free, until 2007 when I also used the knowledge gained with the help of the volunteers, to find a way of working that seemed to be a good balance between being user- friendly and still keeping it as confidential and secure as possible. This testing phase also helped me understand some of the ethical issues around providing an online therapy service, not forgetting the social media implications. I finally started charging for online therapy sessions in 2011, after I was confident that the risks regarding being ethical and confidential were manageable.

Choosing the right therapist

This is my personal overview based on my opinions and experiences as a therapist, I hope it will give you a better idea what steps to take to give you a better chance of finding a therapist who you find beneficial. First of all, remember who is in charge, if you pay the fees, you can make the choices, and you can hire and fire when you wish. You have no obligation to stay with that particular therapist, and be aware that any recommendations from family or friends are not a guarantee, only a personal opinion from their perspective, your experience may turn out to be very a different one with that same therapist.

Not able to pay for therapy

Unfortunately, not everyone has the total freedom to choose any therapist they like, and you could argue that private fee-paying clients have the best options available to them, within the limitations of their budget. If you can’t afford to pay for therapy yourself, you may be able to use an insurance company, although hey may restrict you’re choices. If available you can use free services from a charity, college, or health centre, it is worth looking and asking around in your local area to what’s available. This therapy service offers a range of affordable options.

Take control

Trying to find a therapist can take time, but you are ultimately in charge of the choices you make, if you think of it this way, When you have your hair cut at the hairdressers and you like the way it was done, or discover that the service is excellent, you will probably return to the same one next time. If you don’t like the service they provide, you can take control of the situation and find a new better establishment, it’s the same when looking for a therapist, if you do not like the service, take control and you move on to the next, until you find one that works for you. Not every therapist will be a good match for all clients, just as you will not agree with, or like everyone you encounter in your life, sometime we have different chemistry, so take your time finding one you connect with on a level that works for you.

Qualifications & testimonials

Remember that qualifications are not a very helpful indicator, a therapist who is a Dr in psychology is not necessarily going to be better than a therapist with just a diploma in counselling, because books and theories are only guides. Qualifications don’t show therapists how to cure your depression or anxiety; if they did, then you could buy your own books, then cure your own problems. Being a good therapist has more to do with personal ability when using a combination of empathy, life experience, qualifications and knowledge, not just book reading and qualifications. If a therapist insists that being a member of this organisation or that one, means you can trust them, or it guarantees you have a good therapist, remember this, they just lied to you, and they know it. Never pay any attention to any testimonials a therapist shows you or any client recommendations they use as advertising on a website, or anywhere else, it could be untrue or misleading. If they give out emails or contact details of past clients for you to check the authenticity of the testimonials, that will then have seriously breached a client’s privacy and confidentiality, using clients to validate the therapist is seen as unethical and bad practice, find a therapist that understands the importance of confidentiality. Beware of promises, such as I can help you, or I will change your life, or even outrageous statements like I can cure your depression, as it’s all empty promises or bluff and bluster, to make you part with your money, because that’s all their interested in. In my opinion, you should never pay in advance before therapy starts, and always ask for a free consultation first, you need that to find out if you like the therapist, if they won’t do that why not? Are they afraid or worried, the relationship between you and your therapist, is probably the most essential part to any successful therapy outcome, and you need some time to talk to them first before you can make a considered choice.

No guarantee of safety

Therapy organisations should never be seen as a guarantee, or validation of any particular therapist, it is only an organisation that promotes their members over and above other organisations, a licence is required in some countries to work as a therapist, this is also no guarantee that you will be treated in a professional and respectful manner. You will always be the best judge of the therapist based on the experience you have; no organisation should be seen as a guarantee of your safety, always be aware and take responsibility for your safety first. If Doctors can steel kill and generally do bad things to patients in their care, it can show that the regulatory body they belonged to was no guarantee of good behaviour, and neither should you. It matters not if people are police doctor’s firemen therapists or lawyers because they are just people, the same as you me, and everyone else, they may be good and bad, or were once good and are now not so good, people do occasionally change for the worst over time. If something about the therapist feels wrong, or the therapist makes you feel uncomfortable, even if they seem to be a good choice on paper, change the therapist immediately, why wait. If the therapist says or does anything that makes you suspicious, find a new one, you do not need to say why. Listen to your inner voice and trust your instincts, if you feel unsettled in the therapist’s company, or you think there is something wrong find a new one, remember you are the one in charge.

Marketing and advertising

Steer clear of any therapist that makes big claims or makes big promises to cure issues like depression or anxiety, it’s probably all about marketing and money and luring in desperate people, and if it’s too good to be true, it probably is not true. Marketing tactics such as using clients to provide testimonials about their therapy service show a total disregard for their client’s confidentiality and in my opinion indicates very questionable professional ethics. Would you like someone emailing you and asking about your personal therapy experience, or asking for proof of who you are to validate a testimonial, allowing them to verify that you are not just a fictitious person? Providing a confidential service means that it is confidential, and even the fact that you have had therapy is also sensitive information. Any testimonial has to be shown to be true, and in some countries, the name and address of the person providing the testimony have to be made available to people, or advertising regulatory authorities, to be able to check its validity.

Free consultation

If possible, talk to the therapist before making any payments, a free consultation will help you find out what you think about the therapist before entering into any financial commitment. It will also give you the chance to ask questions and get an idea how you feel about them as your prospective therapist, if you can’t find a therapist that you like who provides a free session, then you may have to pay to find out if you’re a good fit together.

Specialisations

A therapist’s specialities or expertise in any particular problem area or issue only shows that they are focused on a specific subject or area of interest, for instance, if a therapist specialises in eating disorders, does it mean they can’t work with anger issues? No, because therapists need to work with the person as a whole, not just one problem. Everything we are as a person, is complex and interlinked, anger love happiness fear anxiety depression, are all part of the bigger picture, they all exist in the same place, and each component influences the other, quite often an emotional issue like anger or anxiety is nothing more than a symptom or emotional expression of a deeper problem. A therapist has to be flexible and adaptable and work with a wide range of problems because we are all complex unique individuals and not just a single symptom. So, if you have anger issues don’t just look for therapists who specialise in anger, by doing so you may overly restrict your choices.

Therapy is available online

Today online therapy services provide you with more opportunities to find counselling and psychotherapy online; you don’t have to use the therapist closest to you any more so you have more choice. Good luck in your future search and I hope this has been of some help.

Founded May 2011

I started with the traditional face to face interaction with my clients, but as my Professional online therapy service grew, I had to fully transition away from the traditional therapy setting and concentrate on providing online therapy by connecting to people through internet. I was also at the time providing support and consultations for a local charity for four years. Paying people to develop and build my websites was way too expensive for me, so I had to learn and adapt by developing new skills, such as becoming a self-taught web designer builder and developer, graphic artist, content creator, video and sound engineer. Although I made my fair share of mistakes, I managed to figure it out and make it work in the end.

One of the very first online

therapists

Starting with an idea in 2005 and looking into the technology involved, I progressed to using volunteers, after completing my first diploma in 2006. I set-up an experimental, free online hypnotherapy service using volunteers, after passing my counselling and psychotherapy study, I started to test online counselling via video with volunteers for free, until 2007 when I also used the knowledge gained with the help of the volunteers, to find a way of working that seemed to be a good balance between being user-friendly and still keeping it as confidential and secure as possible. This testing phase also helped me understand some of the ethical issues around providing an online therapy service, not forgetting the social media implications. I finally started charging for online therapy sessions in 2011, after I was confident that the risks regarding being ethical and confidential were manageable.

Choosing the right therapist

This is my personal overview based on my opinions and experiences as a therapist, I hope it will give you a better idea what steps to take to give you a better chance of finding a therapist who you find beneficial. First of all, remember who is in charge, if you pay the fees, you can make the choices, and you can hire and fire when you wish. You have no obligation to stay with that particular therapist, and be aware that any recommendations from family or friends are not a guarantee, only a personal opinion from their perspective, your experience may turn out to be very a different one with that same therapist.

Not able to pay for therapy

Unfortunately, not everyone has the total freedom to choose any therapist they like, and you could argue that private fee-paying clients have the best options available to them, within the limitations of their budget. If you can’t afford to pay for therapy yourself, you may be able to use an insurance company, although hey may restrict you’re choices. If available you can use free services from a charity, college, or health centre, it is worth looking and asking around in your local area to what’s available. This therapy service offers a range of affordable options.

Take control

Trying to find a therapist can take time, but you are ultimately in charge of the choices you make, if you think of it this way, When you have your hair cut at the hairdressers and you like the way it was done, or discover that the service is excellent, you will probably return to the same one next time. If you don’t like the service they provide, you can take control of the situation and find a new better establishment, it’s the same when looking for a therapist, if you do not like the service, take control and you move on to the next, until you find one that works for you. Not every therapist will be a good match for all clients, just as you will not agree with, or like everyone you encounter in your life, sometime we have different chemistry, so take your time finding one you connect with on a level that works for you.

Qualifications & testimonials

Remember that qualifications are not a very helpful indicator, a therapist who is a Dr in psychology is not necessarily going to be better than a therapist with just a diploma in counselling, because books and theories are only guides. Qualifications don’t show therapists how to cure your depression or anxiety; if they did, then you could buy your own books, then cure your own problems. Being a good therapist has more to do with personal ability when using a combination of empathy, life experience, qualifications and knowledge, not just book reading and qualifications. If a therapist insists that being a member of this organisation or that one, means you can trust them, or it guarantees you have a good therapist, remember this, they just lied to you, and they know it. Never pay any attention to any testimonials a therapist shows you or any client recommendations they use as advertising on a website, or anywhere else, it could be untrue or misleading. If they give out emails or contact details of past clients for you to check the authenticity of the testimonials, that will then have seriously breached a client’s privacy and confidentiality, using clients to validate the therapist is seen as unethical and bad practice, find a therapist that understands the importance of confidentiality. Beware of promises, such as I can help you, or I will change your life, or even outrageous statements like I can cure your depression, as it’s all empty promises or bluff and bluster, to make you part with your money, because that’s all their interested in. In my opinion, you should never pay in advance before therapy starts, and always ask for a free consultation first, you need that to find out if you like the therapist, if they won’t do that why not? Are they afraid or worried, the relationship between you and your therapist, is probably the most essential part to any successful therapy outcome, and you need some time to talk to them first before you can make a considered choice.

No guarantee of safety

Therapy organisations should never be seen as a guarantee, or validation of any particular therapist, it is only an organisation that promotes their members over and above other organisations, a licence is required in some countries to work as a therapist, this is also no guarantee that you will be treated in a professional and respectful manner. You will always be the best judge of the therapist based on the experience you have; no organisation should be seen as a guarantee of your safety, always be aware and take responsibility for your safety first. If Doctors can steel kill and generally do bad things to patients in their care, it can show that the regulatory body they belonged to was no guarantee of good behaviour, and neither should you. It matters not if people are police doctor’s firemen therapists or lawyers because they are just people, the same as you me, and everyone else, they may be good and bad, or were once good and are now not so good, people do occasionally change for the worst over time. If something about the therapist feels wrong, or the therapist makes you feel uncomfortable, even if they seem to be a good choice on paper, change the therapist immediately, why wait. If the therapist says or does anything that makes you suspicious, find a new one, you do not need to say why. Listen to your inner voice and trust your instincts, if you feel unsettled in the therapist’s company, or you think there is something wrong find a new one, remember you are the one in charge.

Marketing and advertising

Steer clear of any therapist that makes big claims or makes big promises to cure issues like depression or anxiety, it’s probably all about marketing and money and luring in desperate people, and if it’s too good to be true, it probably is not true. Marketing tactics such as using clients to provide testimonials about their therapy service show a total disregard for their client’s confidentiality and in my opinion indicates very questionable professional ethics. Would you like someone emailing you and asking about your personal therapy experience, or asking for proof of who you are to validate a testimonial, allowing them to verify that you are not just a fictitious person? Providing a confidential service means that it is confidential, and even the fact that you have had therapy is also sensitive information. Any testimonial has to be shown to be true, and in some countries, the name and address of the person providing the testimony have to be made available to people, or advertising regulatory authorities, to be able to check its validity.

Free consultation

If possible, talk to the therapist before making any payments, a free consultation will help you find out what you think about the therapist before entering into any financial commitment. It will also give you the chance to ask questions and get an idea how you feel about them as your prospective therapist, if you can’t find a therapist that you like who provides a free session, then you may have to pay to find out if you’re a good fit together.

Specialisations

A therapist’s specialities or expertise in any particular problem area or issue only shows that they are focused on a specific subject or area of interest, for instance, if a therapist specialises in eating disorders, does it mean they can’t work with anger issues? No, because therapists need to work with the person as a whole, not just one problem. Everything we are as a person, is complex and interlinked, anger love happiness fear anxiety depression, are all part of the bigger picture, they all exist in the same place, and each component influences the other, quite often an emotional issue like anger or anxiety is nothing more than a symptom or emotional expression of a deeper problem. A therapist has to be flexible and adaptable and work with a wide range of problems because we are all complex unique individuals and not just a single symptom. So, if you have anger issues don’t just look for therapists who specialise in anger, by doing so you may overly restrict your choices.

Therapy is available online

Today online therapy services provide you with more opportunities to find counselling and psychotherapy online; you don’t have to use the therapist closest to you any more so you have more choice. Good luck in your future search and I hope this has been of some help.