Online counselling is increasingly being used as an alternative to face-to-face student counselling. Using an exploratory mixed methods design, this project investigates the practice by examining the types of therapeutic goals that 11 to 25 year olds identify online in routine practice. These goals are then compared to goals identified in equivalent school and community-based counselling services. 1,137 online goals (expressed by 504 young people) and 221 face-to-face goals (expressed by 220 young people) were analysed for key themes using grounded theory techniques. This analysis identified three core categories (1) Intrapersonal Goals, (2) Interpersonal Goals, and (3) Intrapersonal Goals directly related to others. Further statistical analysis of these themes indicated that online and face-to-face services appear to be being used in different ways by students. These differences are discussed alongside the implications for professionals working in educational settings.
Objective: Counselling within educational settings has now become commonplace. As with the advent of the use of new technologies in teaching, such developments are also impacting the broader support structures available to students. One development is the move of schools to offer pupils access to online counselling services. To date, such practices have received little attention, and this paper synthesises the existing empirical research literature in this area. Design: A systematic review of the literature was conducted which focused upon synchronous chat counselling for 11- to 25-year-olds. Method: Key bibliographic databases were searched for relevant papers. These were assessed for relevance and quality prior to being included into the analysis. The final selection of studies was analysed for key themes. Results: In all, 19 papers met the inclusion criteria. The thematic synthesis identified four higher order themes: (1) developing safe and youth-friendly online services, (2) online client characteristics, (3) in-session online processes and (4) session alliance and outcome. Conclusion: These themes outline the varied challenges and opportunities present within this developing practice. Each is initially discussed alongside existing literature related to online counselling before the implications for educational providers are explicitly considered. Ultimately, it is concluded that online counselling for students has much potential, however, those commissioning such services need to be mindful of common pitfalls.
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