In the last issue of TILT Magazine, online practitioners were invited to participate in a survey designed to gather information about various trends in the distance counseling industry. The survey was also announced across various professional networks as well as such platforms such as LinkedIn groups, Twitter and Facebook, including the OTI social network which has over 1150 members. Despite this, only 211 responses were received, which may be an indication that while many people have a heightened interest in online therapy, they are not yet practicing online.
From your answers as practicing distance service providers, much was learned about the regularity with which practitioners provide services to clients outside their own jurisdictional area, the technologies being used to communicate with clients, and the topics and skill areas most important to survey respondents. Some of the results may surprise you whereas others you may have expected. In either case, the data paints a small but significant picture of what is currently going on in the world of online therapy.
….read the complete story ~ http://issuu.com/onlinetherapyinstitute/docs/tiltiss9?mode=window&pageNumber=59
This article first appeared in the January 2012 issue of TILT Magazine ~ Therapeutic Innovations in Light of Technology.
Steven Starks is a counseling student at Walden University and an online academic advisor for University of Phoenix. He has experience in distance advising, online learning, and academic research and writing. He is the creator of the blog site DistanceAdvising.com, a resource for academic advisors serving the online student population.
The author would like to thank Stephen Goss, DeeAnna Nagel and Kate Anthony for their help with this research.
