E-counseling Jobs (A Comprehensive Guide)
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With the changing dynamics of the world, e-counseling is emerging as a new subfield in a field of mental health.
Emerging fields also generate a lot of job opportunities thus with the e-counseling there came a number of e-counseling jobs.
This article will explore what e-counseling is and then it will outline what e-counseling jobs are available for the personnel belonging to mental health.
In this article, we will discuss E-counseling and E-counseling jobs.
E-counseling:
E-counseling comes under different names such as online therapy, electronic therapy, teletherapy, or cyber counseling.
E-counseling refers to providing mental health support or services through means of the internet.
E-counseling can occur through a number of means such as video calling, text messages, email or voice calls.
It can either be real-time or time-delayed.
Real-time e-counseling constitutes mental health services through phone or video calling and time-delayed e-counseling refers to counseling through email or text message where the response might be delayed for a while.
E-counseling is being preferred over regular counseling for a number of reasons which makes it a newly emerging field in the domain of mental health.
Communicating tools for e-counseling:
- Text messaging
- Real-time chat
- Internet phone
- Videoconferencing
- Mobile device apps
Although services can be accessed through desktop or laptop different mobile applications are becoming highly popular in providing these mental health services.
History of e-counseling:
Communicating with clients at distance is not something new in the 21st century as Sigmund Freud used to keep in touch with his clients through letters extensively.
In 1982, the group started emerging on the internet which provided information and techniques for self-help.
Many sites provide mental health services and there are many private e-counseling clinics too.
The rise in the provision of mental health services over the internet led to the foundation of the International Society for Mental Health Online.
This drastic increase in online health care demands for the consumer to be aware of information and guidelines related to mental health services.
An increase in access to a mobile phone has also to the development of applications providing mobile-based therapies.
Researchers have also shown that such kind of therapies can be effective for many individuals.
Effectiveness of e-counseling:
A systematic review of researches on e-counseling showed that patients who received counseling via the internet were more satisfied than the individual who received face to face counseling.
It has also been proven to be effective for many mental health problems.
This comes as good news for individuals living in rural areas where they do not have easy access to therapy.
This is also more effective for those individuals living in an area where mental health is stigmatized.
Online therapy provides confidentiality for such individuals.
One of the research indicated that online CBT in combination with other clinical services has proven to be effective in treating depression, anxiety, and emotional distress.
In fact, some studies showed that online therapy was more effective in treating depression and anxiety than in-person CBT.
E-counseling jobs:
The prevalence of information technology and the proven effectiveness of e-counseling by the number of researcher field of e-counseling got to hold and became a new trend in psychology.
There are many e-counseling jobs available but they require special competencies and are needed to search in an effective way.
All aspects of e-counseling jobs are discussed as below.
Competencies for e-counseling jobs:
In a real-world setting, a therapist can have a range of competencies such a group counseling, couple counseling, or academic counseling, in a similar meaner for e-counseling jobs there can be a range of credentials and competencies.
Although there are many websites that promise to person an online therapist or counselor it should be noted that educational and professional training required to become a face to face therapist is the same to become an online therapist.
Ethical Framework for e-counseling jobs:
If you want to be an e-counselor then there are certain things you need to follow.
First of all, you need to check the requirements by your states for the certification or prerequisites to get a license to practice therapy or counseling.
Few guidelines have been outlined by the Online Therapy institute which a person needs to follow while providing mental health services via the internet.
These are minimum standards on which a person needs to fall on to practice e-counseling.
Ethical framework for e-counseling jobs is as follow:
- A counselor working on e-counseling jobs should provide mental health services according to their competencies. That means they should only provide services which they have been trained to provide and avoid stepping into the domain out of their competencies.
- An individual having e-counseling jobs should follow the guidelines outlined by local locations. For example, in the U.S there are some licensing bodies that provide a license to practice psychotherapy or counseling either via the internet or face to face. This license is provided only to those individuals who go through specific training and pass it.
- For e-counseling jobs, a person needs to go through the training and practice of providing the training online under supervision first. This training includes formal and informal training. In formal training, an individual takes up college or universities diploma or courses. Training and conference constitute informal training.
- To have e-counseling jobs, a person needs to have a strong grip on the understanding of technology. They must be aware of all the tools and techniques required to provide mental health services online.
Searching for e-counseling jobs:
If you want to be an e-counselor and looking for e-counseling jobs you need to be very specific in your search.
For example, if you search for e-counseling jobs you will come across all kinds of e-counseling jobs.
If you are a mental health counselor all other e-counseling jobs would be irrelevant to you such as school counselor, enrollment counselor, admission counselor.
You need to specify that you are looking for e-counseling jobs that provide mental health services.
Thus it is important that you tailor your search for e-counseling jobs to have the results which best suits your competencies and abilities.
While searching for e-counseling jobs you need to keep in mind that some organization provides an opportunity for full-time e-counseling jobs while other platforms usually post e-counseling jobs for an independent counselor.
If you are an independent provider you will be responsible for your earning, taxes, and income, hiring an organization will have no role in that.
Independent provider will also be responsible for the health and life insurance and will be getting no such benefit from the organization.
E-counseling jobs opportunities:
Once you have been trained and required certification to provide mental health services then it is not difficult to become an e-counselor.
There are many online platforms that provide opportunities to the psychologist to become an e-counselor. Some of which are mentioned below:
BetterHelp:
Better help is an online platform that provides e-counseling job opportunities.
Better help has some prerequisites for their e-counseling jobs.
To work with better help as an e-counselor you need to be located in the United State.
You should have completed clinical supervision of at least 2,000 hours and must be licensed by state board which implies that you have competences to provide online counseling as a behavior therapy expert.
Credentials that better help accepts for the e-counseling position include licenses such as LMFT, LCSW, LPC, and Psy D.
TalkSpace:
Talk space is another online platform that hires e-counselor as they provide mental health services to the public.
E-counselors hired by them is not an independent counselor but they work under the organization. It provides easy to use the mobile app to its clients.
Faithfull Counseling:
Faithful counseling is an online platform that provides mental health counseling from a Christian perspective.
If you opt for this counseling platform you need to have a strong Christian background and knowledge of the Bible.
You might also need to provide delayed time e-counseling training via text message.
You would need to provide an additional spiritual guideline to your client or else they may change you.
7 cups:
It a research back platform that provides emotional support.
They provide a wide range of e-counseling job opportunities ranging from a volunteer who just listens to professionals who provide mental health services.
They have also established their community and conduct a group session that requires group counselors.
It is mostly text-based and if your opt for it for your e-counseling career you might have good writing skills as well.
Regain:
They specialize in providing online counseling to the couple.
To get an e-counseling job at Regain you need to have competencies related to couple counseling.
They require special certification and experienced e-counselor.
Teen Counseling:
As apparent by the name this online platform specializes in teen counseling.
A counselor needs to interact with the parents of clients too to effectively solve their behavioral issues.
They require specialized skills and experience.
Online Therapy.com:
If you are specialized in providing cognitive behavioral therapy then it is the best space for you. It provides CBT to its clients and only allows 30 minutes live session per week.
Pride Counseling:
To work at pride counseling you need to have competencies related to deal with the individual with whom stigma has been attached.
It specializes in providing counseling to the LGBT community.
They hire skilled and experienced personnel to provide counseling to individual dealing with the negative psychological impacts of the stigma associated with them.
Emergency helplines:
E-counselors can also opt for a job at emergency helplines.
These emergency helplines are established by different NGOs to provide immediate help to the teen who is on the verge of committing self-harm.
They offer 24/7 services is a toll number that is available to all.
Conclusion:
E-counseling is the emerging field in psychology. With the extension of the field there comes a range of job opportunities.
To have an e-counseling job a person needs to have required competencies as are required by face to face counseling.
To lookup for the e-counseling job, a person needs to tailor his search according to his competencies such as e-counseling jobs for mental health providers.
To sustain an e-counseling job, a person should follow the ethical framework provided by an Online therapy institute.
Many online platforms offer e-counseling jobs that can be taken up after having specified credentials.
FAQs about E-counseling jobs
How much e-counselor can make?
The salary of the e-counselor usually depends on the competencies and experiences.
Initially, a persona can make $15-$25/ hour through an e-counseling job.
But with the 10 years of a person can make up to $50/ hour through e-counseling.
How much does talk space therapists get paid?
Individuals working with Talkspace usually earn up to $4,000 per month.
It is more dependent on the time they spend with the client and the package which the client subscribes to.
Is online counseling effective?
Despite having many issues research has proven online counseling to be very effective in dealing with a number of mental health issues.
Some researchers have proven online CBT to be more effective than face to face CBT.
References:
Sarah Fader (2020) Online Therapy Jobs & Online Counseling Jobs Explained in 2020. Retrieved from: betterhelp.com
Kendra Cherry (2020) What is online therapy. Retrieved from: verywellmind.com
Shannon V. McHugh (2020) The best online therapy services of 2020. Retrieved from: ecounseling.com
Counsellinggroup.com: E-counseling
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