The Importance of Training
Why is it important for qualified psychotherapists and counsellors to undertake additional training specific to online work?
Traditional counselling and psychotherapy training involves learning how to engage a client in face-to-face therapy (two people in a room, perhaps with a box of tissues and a glass of water) and very little consideration has traditionally been given to how to work with technology. However, the world is changing, and working with clients online brings its own challenges and rewards.
All of our professionals are required to be trained in online work. Some of the reasons we insist on this are:
- To ensure clients are kept safe; that their data and personal details are protected and that the professional counsellors and psychotherapists understand how to do this and why this is done
- To ensure that boundaries are maintained. Working online is a very different environment to face-to-face work and an understanding of how and when boundaries might slip or change is important for online work.
- To help the therapist to be aware of the problems and issues (both technical and relational) that can crop up in online work, how to prepare for unexpected events, and how to prepare the client for what might happen should these eventualities occur.
- To ensure that the therapist is aware of any ethical considerations that may be particular to online work (for example assessing the client’s suitability for working online).
These are just some of the considerations that need to be borne in mind when considering working therapeutically online. Our recognized training partners cover these topics and more in depth, and to a level that we believe offers a competence framework to our therapists, and safety to their clients.