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The Experience of Online Counseling

Article in Journal of Mental Health Counseling · July 2007

DOI: 10.17744/mehc.29.3.j344651261w357v2

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 Journal of Mental Health Counseling
Volume 29/Number 3/July 2007/Pages 269-282

The Experience of Online Counseling

Shane Haberstroh
Thelma Duffey
Marcheta Evans
Robert Gee
Heather Trepal

In this qualitative study, the authors outline the experiences of 5 research participants who engaged
in online chat-based counseling sessions. Participants discussed their experiences related to techno-
logical barriers, connecting with their counselor, interacting without visual or verbal feedback,
receiving counseling in a personal space, and the flow and pace of the online sessions. The authors
provide recommendations for the implementation of online counseling, including discussion of the
limitations and benefits of this type of therapeutic conversation.

When clients do not perceive core therapeutic conditions to be present,

counselors can become ineffective in facilitating growth and change (Hill
& Nakayama, 2000; Sexton & Whiston, 1991). With the advent of online
counseling services as a creative and innovative therapeutic medium,
counselors are now considering how therapeutic conditions can be fos-
tered in an online environment (Evans & Hawkins, 2002; Rochland, Zach,
& Speyer, 2004). Given the increasing availability of the Internet as a
counseling resource, numerous counselors have engaged in the delivery
of both synchronous and asynchronous online interventions (Heinlen,
Reynolds-Welfel, Richmond, & Rak, 2003; Maheu & Gordon, 2000;
Sampson, Kolodinsky, & Greeno, 1997). In this article, we explore the
experiences of research participants who engaged in chat-based synchro-
nous online counseling. This analogue study supplements the modest but
growing literature base (Mann-Layne & Hosenhil, 2005) related to online
counseling by illustrating the perceptions of individuals who personally
experienced an online therapeutic relationship.

Shane Haberstroh, Thelma Duffey, Marcheta Evans, and Heather Trepal are affiliated with
The University of Texas at San Antonio and Robert Gee is affiliated with Texas Tech
University. Correspondence regarding this article should be sent via e-mail to shane.haber-
stroh@utsa.edu.

269
270 JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING

The Internet as a Clinical Medium

A growing body of literature has begun to explore the Internet as an
environment for addressing a variety of clinical issues and research sug-
gests that meaningful working alliances can be established online (Cook
& Doyle, 2002; Leibert, Archer, Munson, & York, 2006). Leibert et al.
found that clients rated online counseling favorably, but satisfaction
scores were lower than estimates for clients attending face-to-face ses-
sions. These authors found that missing nonverbal communication was
attenuated by the anonymity afforded by online communications, and
suggested future research focus on therapeutic alliance variables with
heterogeneous populations.
The Internet is purportedly evolving into an accessible, convenient
vehicle for addressing body issues and somatic concerns (Tate, Wing, &
Winett, 2001), creating a safe therapeutic space for women struggling with
eating disorders (Zabinski, Celio, Wilfley, & Taylor, 2003; Zabinski et al.,
2001), attenuating the severity and frequency of chronic headaches
(Strom, Pettersson, & Andersson, 2000), and providing relief for persons
suffering from insomnia (Strom, Pettersson, & Andersson, 2004). These
results may be due, in part, to the therapeutic aspects of writing about
emotions. An established body of research suggests that writing during
times of physical and social distress provides clients with a vital avenue
for emotional healing (Penn, 2001; Soper & Von Bergen, 2001).
Accordingly, research has established a quantitative link between written
expression of emotions and increased physical health (Campbell &
Pennebaker, 2003; Penn, 2001; Pennebaker, 1997). Given that online
counseling is an interactive form of therapeutic writing, interventions
delivered in this environment may combine the power of the written
word with therapeutic conversations.
In summary, some studies indicate that Internet counseling, especially
when combined with cognitive behavioral approaches can be used with a
variety of clinical presentations (Christensen, Griffiths, & Jorm, 2004;
Kenardy, McCafferty, & Rosa, 2003; Lange, Van De Ven & Schrieken,
2003; Rassau & Arco, 2003; Richards, Klein, & Carlbring, 2003). In this
study, we build upon the work of several articles (Cook & Doyle, 2002;
Leibert et al., 2006) related to client’s perspectives of online counseling.
A review of the literature found that many studies (Cook & Doyle, 2002;
Kenardy et al., 2003; Leibert et al.) utilized post hoc methods of inter-
viewing participants and collecting data. This study contributes to the lit-
erature by exploring and documenting the process of analogue online
counseling as participants experienced this phenomenon. This way of col-
lecting data allowed the researchers and participants opportunities to
process, understand, and document reactions to online counseling in an
in-depth manner as they naturally emerged (Berrios & Luca, 2006).
Haberstroh, Duffey, Evans, Gee, and Trepal / 271
EXPERIENCE OF ONLINE COUNSELING

METHOD

Beginning counselor education students served as clients, while coun-

seling interns enrolled in an advanced counseling internship course
served as counselors in this study. The central research question
(Creswell, 1998; 2002) posed to participants was “What is the experience
of receiving online counseling, from a client’s perspective?” Because we
investigated the perspectives of various individuals about a common
experience, descriptive phenomenology framed and guided the research
inquiry (Denzin & Lincoln, 1994; Moustakas, 1994). The research task was
to transform the participants’ narratives into themes that illustrated the
essence of their experiences (Moustakas). Finally, we followed the guide-
lines for preparing counseling-related manuscripts as outlined by
Choudhuri, Glauser and Peregoy (2004). Choudhuri et al. suggested that
qualitative manuscripts provide succinct descriptions of (a) background
theory and research, (b) data collection methods, (c) research setting, (d)
data coding procedures, and (e) how the data inform the interpretations
and conclusions of the study.

Participants and Setting

Seven counselor education graduate students (Table 1) enrolled in an
introduction to counseling class at a large southwestern university partic-
ipated. These individuals volunteered to receive supportive online coun-
seling for optional course credit, and we recruited them for the study after
they attended a 15-minute presentation on the project. Interested stu-
dents signed an Institutional Review Board approved informed consent
form for research participation. We informed the interns, serving as coun-
selors in the project that the clinical focus of the sessions was to explore
personal growth and development experiences in an online environment.
In addition, we screened participants from involvement in this project if
they reported currently dealing with any serious psychological, psychoso-
cial, or clinical issues. No participants reporte struggling with these issues.

Table 1. Participant Demographic Information

Pseudonym Racial/Ethnic Background Age Sex

Dianne African American 27 Female
Charles European American 53 Male
Jennifer Latina American 25 Female
Mary Asian American 26 Female
Nancy European American 29 Female
Rachel European American 26 Female
Pauline European American 24 Female
272 JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING

Finally, we provided participants with contact information for local com-

munity agencies if they needed professional services during the course of
this study.

Procedures
Beginning counselor education students received online counseling ser-
vices from advanced counseling internship students after we provided
access to the counselor intern’s Web site. The counselor interns and stu-
dents had no previous knowledge of each other. Furthermore, the coun-
selor interns were directly supervised by credentialed supervisors who
provided weekly face-to-face supervision sessions specifically for this
research project. We regularly contacted all participants involved with
this research study and provided multiple layers of oversight.
We designed the counseling Web sites with the WebCt software plat-
form. This product allowed for confidential, password protected, conver-
sations and contained built-in chat and e-mail communication tools
(Slencak, 2000). Furthermore, participants only provided their first
names, and no other identifying information was stored on the Web
server. Finally, we asked the participants to engage in five, one hour, syn-
chronous, online counseling chat sessions with their assigned counselor
intern.
Data collection. The first phase of data collection consisted of a one-
hour focus group. The lead author developed and used a structured inter-
view form to encourage a systematic method for collecting the data
(Patton, 2002). In the next phase of the study, the lead author met with the
participants for three 30 to 45-minute, semi-structured interviews.
Interviews were scheduled during the beginning, middle and end of the
online counseling sequence. As with the focus group, and interview guide,
the lead author began the interviews with the grand tour question
(Patton, 2002), “What has been your experience with online counseling so
far?” Additional questions on the interview guide prompted participants
to consider some strengths and weaknesses of online counseling and to
compare this experience with face-to-face conversations. Further, partici-
pants maintained reflective journals where they discussed their experi-
ences with this project.
We recorded the interviews and focus groups on digital videotape.
Finally, we designed a research database utilizing the Microsoft Access
and Excel software programs to store, coordinate, document, and query
the data gathered during this project.
Coding procedures. Data analysis included reflexively evaluating the
major themes as they emerged (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). The themes
reported in this article matured from the spontaneous observations
Haberstroh, Duffey, Evans, Gee, and Trepal / 273
EXPERIENCE OF ONLINE COUNSELING

recorded in the field notes, into general open codes, and finally into
refined themes summarizing the participants lived experiences
(Choudhuri et al., 2004; Patton, 2002). For example, initial open codes and
field notes evolved from observations about how the participants gener-
ally rated the online experience (e.g., convenience, frustration, technical
complications) into more sophisticated analyses as reported in this article.
Validation procedures. In qualitative research, it is essential to triangu-
late the results coded by the researcher to reduce bias and encourage the
transparency of findings (Choudhuri et al., 2004; Patton, 2002). As such, in
addition to reviewing the results with the participants, an external evalu-
ator (Patton) reviewed and commented on all aspects of the study. This
doctoral degreed clinician, supervisor, and qualitative researcher received
access to the transcribed interviews, coding paradigms, and the interview
guides. In our discussions with this individual, we explored how the study
limitations (i.e., the use of counseling students and non-naturalistic
aspects of the study) posed issues with transferring these results to other
settings.

RESULTS

The research database included a considerable amount of text gathered

during the interviews and from submitted reflective journals. By and
large, participants discussed themes related to (a) technical obstacles, (b)
reflections of the counseling process, (c) relating in a nonverbal environ-
ment, (d) communicating at a slower pace, (e) the convenience of online
counseling, and (f) interacting from a personal space. Related to each
major theme, our participants often shared contrasting views and experi-
ences, providing multifaceted and rich descriptions about relating online.
In these results, we assigned pseudonyms to the participants to protect
their confidentiality. Two participants, Charles and Jennifer, did not par-
ticipate in counseling sessions; however; when asked, they both agreed to
participate in research interviews. Discussing his hesitancy, Charles
stated:

We never did really connect. Well, he called and I called back and he said something
about 9 o’clock and I thought it was going to be the next day or next night. So I guess for
me it was establishing some kind of first communication. I just never did make that.

Jennifer shared that she had issues with trusting this type of communi-
cation after agreeing to participate. She questioned, “Who are you really
talking to? You haven’t seen this person, who are they really? You know.
Are they who they say who they are?” For both of these participants
274 JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING

initial communication with their counselor and trusting the process

seemed to be key elements. In addition, as we discuss in the limitations
section, these participants were not personally seeking counseling ser-
vices, which may have influenced their motivation to participate.

Technical Obstacles to Online Counseling

For some, technical complications appeared to discourage several of the
participants from fully interacting online, Dianne shared:

The first time we met, it was really frustrating because of the technology. We were both
there. We were both excited. Not only was it technology, but me being not so technologi-
cally advanced either. I think there was one time when the server was down. We had
barely started talking and the server shut me out. And another time, I didn’t realize I had
pressed return like a hundred times and the computer was going wacko.

Reiterating a sense of frustration and “hassle” related to technological

issues, Mary elaborated:

Something was wrong with our line. I was supposed to meet her in like half an hour and
I wasn’t able to, and she like waited like 15 minutes. But I couldn’t get online, so I finally
go online like an hour and a half later, and I emailed her and told her what happened. I
thought it would be a lot easier. I think it’s, to me, it’s a hassle.

Both Mary and Dianne experienced technical problems outside of their

control in this environment. These barriers interrupted establishing the
fledgling counseling relationship. However, others reported few problems
with logging on and communicating via the chat rooms.

The Online Relationship: Counseling Process

Rachel compared online counseling with a previous counseling experi-
ence and reported:

I think it has to do with the fact that I am an introvert and don’t like talking about myself
very often, but for some reason while I was talking with Tanya [counselor] I didn’t feel
self-conscious about what I was going to say about myself. I felt like I had shared some
things about myself and some concerns about my future and that I felt relieved to share
that.

Pauline reported:

I felt really good when that session was over, even though that issue wasn’t resolved. So
I’m excited to continue with it. I think I really liked it because I knew that person was
totally objective. And was really just able to give honest feedback and ask questions that
maybe I hadn’t thought about regarding that situation. It was just a really good experi-
ence for me.
Haberstroh, Duffey, Evans, Gee, and Trepal / 275
EXPERIENCE OF ONLINE COUNSELING

Alternatively, Nancy discussed how text communication differed from

face-to-face interactions:

She would say, “Tell me more about that,” and almost online it almost feels patronizing
like, “we have 30 more minutes, let me see what else I can squeeze out of her.” But in per-
son, when my professor does that, it doesn’t seem that way. It was a different feeling with
the exact same question.

However, during the course of this study, Nancy was also able to pro-
vide a comparison between online and face-to-face approaches:

I was actually impressed with the fact that it felt about the same. I didn’t really feel as big
of a difference as I thought I would. I expected face-to-face counseling to be a lot better
than Web counseling. I think that breaking the ice takes a little longer online, but we have
now gotten pretty comfortable. I do enjoy it. I like the middle of the week e-mails I get
from her. You know what I mean, times between sessions. That actually makes me feel
“thought of” a little more than being escorted in and back out in an hour.

Reactions to establishing an online counseling relationship varied

among the participants. Some participants found this environment unsat-
isfying, while others received benefits and had a positive experience.

Relating Online without Verbal and Visual Feedback

The participants interacted in an environment devoid of visual and
auditory feedback. Participants varied in their trust of this communica-
tion forum. For some, online communicating alleviated interpersonal
pressure and encouraged self-reflection, as Rachel shared:

Actually, it took the pressure off of having to come up with something right then. Because
when somebody is sitting there, you’re sitting there thinking, “Okay I have to say some-
thing right now.” And when you’re typing, they don’t know if you’re typing. It could just
be taking a while, they don’t know. So I think it took some pressure off.

Nancy felt safer, especially when disclosing potentially embarrassing

topics:

It was little bit more comfortable, in a sense, talking to her. Because I know I never have
to meet her. If I had something real big to talk to somebody about, that might be the way.
Sometimes it’s harder to face somebody when you have somebody looking at you. It
makes it a little easier when you have that computer to look at and not somebody.

However, without seeing her counselor’s responses, Pauline wondered

how her counselor was reacting to her statements:

I guess I’m kind of nervous that the person on the other side is going to be going, in their
mind, “Oh my God, this is the craziest person in the world!” and typing, “Oh that just
276 JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING

sounds so normal.” They’re like laughing at you, but you don’t see that because they’re
typing in the right answers.

Similarly, Dianne explored how relating online limited necessary inter-

personal feedback:

I like to look at a person’s face. Feel their body language. You can tell what a person
thinks about you. You don’t have that element. You’re almost apprehensive. I’m real good
at writing. We all know from writing papers in undergraduate school that you can write a
bunch of stuff and make it sound that you’re really passionate.

Mary followed Dianne’s speculations:

Online you can’t really interpret. It’s just words, verbatim. Who knows if that’s actually
the way I’m feeling about it. And even with a seasoned professional, I don’t think she
would have been able, because online you can block it off. In one-on-one, it would appear
a lot more emotional.

To summarize, interacting online alleviated pressures to respond

quickly and served as a less threatening outlet for sharing embarrassing
topics. However, some participants found that the missing interpersonal
cues limited their self-expression and level of trust.

Pacing of the Online Sessions

Given that the participants and counselors communicated via text, the
pace of the sessions was considerably slower than face-to-face conversa-
tions. Mary found the sessions became “jumbled” when she took too long
to respond to her counselor:

The only thing I hate about the online thing is the typing, because a lot of the answers that
I submit are actually shortened because I don’t want to take the time out to type it. And
when I am taking the time, she’ll ask another question. So it’s just jumbled. Because if you
pause to type out your response, she’s just thinking that it’s quiet. So, she’ll ask a question
to keep the conversation flowing, but I’m actually trying to type a response and then I
have to type another response.

Pauline remarked how the time lapse between responses could be frus-
trating and create ambiguity in the sessions:

It just took her awhile to get it all out. So on the other end, is she really typing something?
Or is she waiting for me to respond? That initial is a little strange, but once we got started,
it was back and forth and so it wasn’t that bad. It was a little frustrating when I knew she
was responding to what I was saying, but she maybe was writing a little more than she had
before. Having to wait was a little frustrating.
Haberstroh, Duffey, Evans, Gee, and Trepal / 277
EXPERIENCE OF ONLINE COUNSELING

However, Pauline found that the space between responses allowed her
more time to construct a thoughtful response:

I kind of like in the fact that typing in my response, it gives me a minute to think about
what I’m going to say, and organize it. Whereas just back and forth, sometimes it’s hard
to come up with the words, and you stutter, and you pause. Whereas in typing you just put
down what you want to say.

To summarize, the slower pace of the sessions seemed to encourage

deeper reflection for some participants. However, for others, the slower
pace appeared tedious and hampered self disclosure.

Convenience of Online Counseling

Several participants commented on the convenience of online counsel-
ing. This theme was especially relevant for Nancy, who lived in a rural
setting:

I find myself wanting to do the web counseling more because it takes less time, and it
takes less out of me. It’s easier to get on the computer than to get ready, go into town,
park, find the office.

Rachel found that online counseling was potentially beneficial for those
whom access to traditional services was limited. She hypothesized online
counseling was especially helpful for, “People who can’t get to traditional
counseling either because of disability or illness or a disorder.”

Relating from a Personal Space

Counseling via the Internet has the power to expand the sessions into
different locations. Many participants found that interacting from a pri-
vate, personal space was relaxing, while allowing for in vivo clinical
opportunities. Pauline and the counseling intern embraced this opportu-
nity and processed her feelings as they naturally occurred. Pauline further
described that receiving counseling from her personal space was comfort-
able:

It actually made it very comfortable for me. I really liked it. I got up that morning and
took a shower and was still in my robe, and my hair was wet, and I was able to sit down
and have a counseling session. Whereas if I went to an office, I would be very concerned
about my appearance, especially for that initial meeting. Making sure I was dressed
appropriately, and I had my makeup done and my hair was done.

Similarly, when interacting from her home, Dianne was able to attend
to family business:
278 JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING

I was telling her, because I was at home, I have an 18-month-old son. And at one time he
was hanging on my leg and pulling me and she never knew that. And I’ve learned basi-
cally that I can tune him out, but had we been in person she would have been way dis-
tracted by him.

Concerning a shortcoming associated with interacting from home,

Nancy reported, “Well it would be real easy to be distracted. Like, have
the TV on, or, not taking this as serious as if you were sitting in a room
one-on-one.” Although communicating from a personal space was seen as
safe, and potentially offered unique clinical opportunities, distractions
could occur, reducing the client’s full attention to the session.

DISCUSSION

As the Internet and computer technologies evolve, the counseling pro-

fession must continue to reflexively evaluate the role and scope of online
counseling services. Our results represent experiences from a small ana-
logue study, and it is important to recognize that our findings may not be
transferable to clients seeking online services. Keeping this main limita-
tion in mind, we discuss the implications for mental health counselors and
counseling programs.
We identified several limitations that influenced the scope and transfer-
ability of the findings from this study. Primarily, the participants were
graduate student volunteers who received course credit for their partici-
pation. Their perspectives may not fully represent the experiences of
clients who seek online counseling. Given that the participants were grad-
uate counseling students, they may have a positive bias toward counseling
in general. In addition, because of the small nature of the sample, the
results reported in this manuscript may not represent what others might
experience. Further, one participant engaged in a marital counseling ses-
sion while participating in this project. This activity allowed for compari-
son between the two modalities and may have affected how this partici-
pant discerned unique therapeutic benefits from different approaches.
Finally, another participant had previously experienced counseling, and
reported her previous experiences as unhelpful. Clearly this participant’s
previous experiences and biases to counseling may have impacted her
experience. Thus, it is essential that research continue to discern differ-
ences between personal variables, timing of interventions, and environ-
mental factors when exploring online counseling. Future qualitative
research may yield additional findings uncovered from clients who pre-
sent in other settings and with other clinical issues.
Clinically and theoretically, online counseling parallels therapeutic
writing or journaling in many respects. Similarities between the two
Haberstroh, Duffey, Evans, Gee, and Trepal / 279
EXPERIENCE OF ONLINE COUNSELING

approaches include the reflective nature of writing and the use of written
media as an intermediary for communication. A significant body of
research (Campbell & Pennebaker, 2003; Penn, 2001; Pennebaker, 1997;
Soper & Von Bergen, 2001; Ulrich, & Lutgendorf, 2002) has found that
clinically focused writing helps clients with a variety of psychological and
physical concerns. Specifically, Ulrich and Lutgendorf reported that
clients improved when they wrote about both emotional and cognitive
reactions to stress and trauma. In fact, participants who wrote about emo-
tions only reported feeling worse over time. Within this framework, it
would seem important that counselors ask clients to process both
thoughts and emotions in online settings. Online counseling offers a
unique forum for written interaction between a professional and client
that can focus on the cognitive and emotional qualities of clinical issues.
Future research could compare how journaling differs from online coun-
seling.
With regard to our sample, problems with technology and the technical
abilities of the participants were the most immediate and apparent barri-
ers to establishing an online relationship. These issues may underscore the
importance for counselors to provide several alternate means of commu-
nicating with their clients during technical failures. Furthermore, our find-
ings illustrate that online counselors need to evaluate their client’s level
of technical competence. Perhaps, as part of standard intake procedures,
online counselors could provide an assessment of technical skills and
offer self-paced online tutorials to educate potential clients about the
process of Internet counseling.
Examining the dynamics of the online relationships, we found that
some participants experienced a productive and supportive counseling
relationship, while others did not. In analyzing the differences between
participants, we speculate that online counseling may be helpful for indi-
viduals who are comfortable with technology and communicating via e-
mail and chat rooms. Similarly, other researchers have reported discrep-
ancies among clients regarding their attitudes of online counseling
(Rochlen, Beretvas, & Zach, 2004). These authors found that individuals
tended to rate face-to-face services more positively than online counsel-
ing, and women valued face-to-face counseling more favorably than men.
Thus, counseling via text may offer a supportive, reflective experience for
some, but may be limited in assisting clients who desire face-to-face rela-
tionships. Consistent with recommendations made by Rochlen et al., we
recommend that future research focus on client variables, expectations,
and values regarding perceptions of online counseling relationships.
Correspondingly, the Code of Ethics of the American Mental Health
Counselor’s Association (AMHCA, 2000) requires that potential online
counseling clients are aware of the limitations of online counseling,
280 JOURNAL OF MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING

assessed for their appropriates for services, and referred to local agencies
when appropriate. Other ethical issues also emerge for clients when par-
ticipating in online counseling services. For example, Young (2005) found
that clients were concerned about the privacy of their counseling sessions
and worried about being caught or having an actual full transcript of the
counseling session intercepted. Thus, online counselors should clarify and
discuss their privacy policies, and remain aware that clients may not
believe their privacy is fully protected. As such, counselors should have
access to local referral resources for their clients.
As to benefits, distance-based counseling approaches could prove help-
ful for home-bound people with disabilities, clients who relocate and want
to remain in contact with their counselor, clients who travel, and those
who live in rural areas. Having a counselor virtually sitting with them in
their home or office opens possibilities for creating in vivo therapeutic
opportunities for clients.
Another salient issue to consider in evaluating the feasibility of techno-
logically facilitated counseling is its application within a diverse society
(Barnett, 2005; Chester & Glass, 2006; Mallen, Vogel, & Rochlen, 2005).
Chester and Glass found that many online counselors delivered services
to clients from different cultural and regional settings, cautioning online
counselors to be aware of local customs and practices. We recommend
ongoing qualitative and quantitative discovery of themes and best prac-
tices for productively using Internet technology with heterogeneous
groups. For example, disadvantaged members of the U.S. society experi-
ence limited access to affordable personal computers and Internet ser-
vice. National reports indicate that individuals from economically disad-
vantaged backgrounds use computers and the Internet at lower rates than
the majority population (United States Department of Commerce, 2002;
2004). Furthermore, Mallen et al. suggested that older individuals may not
be familiar with current technologies and be less comfortable accessing
online services. Given the potential for productive online counseling
opportunities for clients and the goal of making broadband access more
available, further research could explore how technology can be used to
reach and empower individuals with economically and culturally diverse
needs.
Technological advancements have the potential to profoundly impact
the field, broadening its scope, practice, and range of creativity. With
appropriate conditions in place, online counseling may show promise for
providing a practical, therapeutic alternative or adjunctive resource to
face-to-face counseling for some populations. As a result, a continuing
need exists to examine client perceptions of this process.
Haberstroh, Duffey, Evans, Gee, and Trepal / 281
EXPERIENCE OF ONLINE COUNSELING

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