Clients' experiences of asynchronous online counselling: a thematic analysis
Loading...
Files
Date
2020
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of New Brunswick
Abstract
The practice of online counselling is a growing field. As such, there is increasing interest in understanding the perspective of the users and their experience using this service. This understanding will allow more effective use of the modality and will guide the future direction of research. Participants' experiences of their use of asynchronous online counselling services were explored using a semi-structured online survey and thematic analysis. Seven themes arose from participants' responses; therapist presence, time as a double-edge tool, writing expressions, general accessibility, comfort of privacy, difficulties in the process of the service and outcomes of service. These experiences align with the existing literature to suggest a need for further research in the areas of stigma, therapists' perspectives, theoretical approaches to stages of online counselling, and efficiency of current online counselling training programs.