Online Counselling and Guidance Skills

A Practical Resource for Trainees and Practitioners

"A very practical text that provides professionals new to this arena with a good introduction to what they can expect to encounter in online work. The book contains numerous thought-provoking examples and exercises for those contemplating work in virtual arenas."
-Terry Hanley, Lecturer in Counseling, University of Manchester  

"It's tempting to think that face-to-face experience translates straightforwardly to online work. But it doesn't. Jane Evans shows how many different aspects there are to counseling on-line… My advice would be, don't attempt it until you have worked through this book." 
-Michael Jacobs, author of Psychodynamic Counseling in Action  

Counselors and other professionals who provide emotional support and guidance are increasingly working online. The difference between online and face-to-face interaction with clients is vast and practitioners need to equip themselves with specialist knowledge and skills to ensure that they are being effective.

Online Counselling and Guidance Skills is the first book to deal with the practicalities of this mode of working. It looks at how practitioners need to adapt their basic counseling skills to the online environment and guides them through the process of setting up, defining and maintaining a working relationship with a client within professional, ethical and legal boundaries. Case studies and extracts from online sessions show how the skills are put into practice, while practical exercises and points for further consideration help readers to develop their own knowledge and skills.

Until now, books and articles have generally focused on the therapeutic work done by counselors online. However, this book addresses people who use counseling skills in a wide range of contexts; including counseling, education, mental health, social care and careers guidance.