Online counselling for couples

The CCN has an Online Counselling Service for all those who may find it difficult to see a counsellor for regular face to face sessions, or may prefer the anonymity of online counselling.

There are many reasons to consider using this relatively new method of counselling :- Maybe you work irregular hours, or travel frequently away from home. Maybe you live in the country, or even abroad, and are thus too far away from easy access to a choice of counsellors. Maybe you are incapacitated/housebound, don't have a car or easily available public transport.

Or, maybe you are worried about making that initial appointment to go and see a 'stranger' about your personal problems. Sometimes one partner feels the need to talk about the difficulties in a relationship before the other - ideally, it is better for couples to embark on counselling together, but this isn't always possible and counselling one half of a partnership can still create change in relationships.

If you have access to a computer and know how to send an email, then perhaps this could be a way to explore your feelings online with a trained counsellor. The initial exchange is free, and it allows both you and your chosen counsellor to see if you can work together, without any obligation to continue if you don't feel comfortable with this form of communication. There is no doubt that it is different from conventional face to face counselling in that there are no visual clues for either client or counsellor. However, for many people, it can be liberating to remain in their private space and feel free to 'talk' to their counsellor in their own time, when there is an opportunity to reflect on what has been written - often regarded as a useful therapy in itself. There may be occasions when online counselling is not appropriate, for those who are feeling suicidal or in need of psychiatric treatment, for example, in which case we will do our best to refer you to another service.

If, having read the above information, you would like to know more, make sure you look at the Confidentiality and Terms and conditions pages, then please click on to the personal profiles of those CCN counsellors who are trained to offer online counselling and decide if this could be helpful for you at this time.

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