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Rescue Relationship Creating the environment for
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COUNSELLING |
Important!! When is online counselling appropriate?
Advantages of online counselling
Minimal
technical requirements for tele-counselling
Minimal
technical requirements for video counselling
New high quality video conferencing
Important!! When is online counselling appropriate?
I only recommend online counselling when....
What is online counselling?
Marriage counselling over the
web is perfect for busy individuals who struggle to make time for one another and
for themselves. The way that it works is you make an appointment over the phone
or
e-mail and arrange a time to tele-conference (over the phone or
Skype) or online video conference face-to-face
(over
Skype) using your internet connection.
Tele- or video counselling?
Tele-counselling is
recommended for individuals who would like to have one-on-one therapy but who
feel more comfortable without visual contact. Online video counselling is for
individuals or couples who would like to be able to see and be seen by the
therapist. For the counselling of couples, visual contact with the therapist is
essential in order to gauge facial reactions towards one another's statements.
Advantages of online counselling
-
Convenience: Counselling from the comfort of your own home or office at a time that suits you. All you need is a phone, or a webcam and internet connection
-
Interactivity: For video counselling, full visual interaction so the counsellor can interact in the same way as in the office setting
-
100% discreet: No need to worry about running into people you know in the waiting room. Maintain anonymity
-
Communication: Without the therapist in the same room, you may find it much easier to be open and honest about your relationship issues
-
Accessibility: Access to services from rural and remote locations or to people who are unable to leave their homes or travel to an office
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After-hours, convenient appointment times (including Sunday-Friday evenings)
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If you have young children, you can save on babysitting costs
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Save on petrol (and help the environment!)
-
More affordable
In order to get the greatest benefit out of the sessions you need to place your phone or computer in a room with minimal distractions. Before each session you will need to turn off your mobile phone and any other noisy devices. If appropriate, try to put some sort if "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door. For online video conferencing, a standard phone line should be available for a direct audio link in case of network issues.
Minimal technical requirements
for tele-counselling
All you need is a phone!
Minimal technical requirements for online video counselling
The online video counselling service is carried out using Skype over your broadband internet connection. This is a very popular, free software package that is a breeze to set up and use. All you need is a computer connected to the internet with Skype installed, and a microphone. In order to allow video conferencing, you also need a webcam*.
For Skype, you need a PC running Windows 2000, XP or Vista operating systems. There is also a Mac version. Feel free to contact me with any (simple!) technical enquiries.
* Most webcams have a built-in microphone
New high quality online video conferencing
The new free Skype High Quality service is the way to go for amazing quality video conferencing. The quality of the video is crystal clear. It relies on the same Skype software and is therefore completely free. However, it does require certain additional requirements. These are as follows:
- Skype v3.6 for Windows
- a
Logitech webcam that has
been optimized and certified for High Quality Video. These include the
following webcams:
- the Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000
- the Logitech QuickCam Pro for Notebooks
Note that both of these models available in stores such as Officeworks, Dick Smith etc (approximately $90) and also on Ebay (approximately $50-70)
- a dual-core PC
- a broadband connection
However, please remember that as noted above, a simple. standard webcam and computer loaded with Skype will be fine for standard online conferencing, and all you need for tele-conferencing is a phone line.