Cybercounseling Essay

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Cybercounseling Natalia N.Malikova Lousiana State University - Shreveport Abstract Cybercounseling is a new developing medium of virtual mental health practice. As everything new and unknown it creates resonance and debate among scholars whether it is beneficial or harmful. The current research on the effects of cyberconseling is scarce, but literature review demonstrates that with the resolution of technological barriers, ethical and legal issues this medium of counseling is likely to develop and become as natural as traditional counseling. Keywords: cybercounseling, onlinecounseling, webcounseling, advantages and disadvantages Rapid development of technologies and new forms of communication enable people to turn to Internet with increasing regularity and frequency in order to receive faster and easier service. Nowadays cybercounseling is widely offered via Internet. Though many scholars remain skeptical towards the effectiveness of this medium of counseling, it is unrealistic to ignore its future growth and promising perspectives (Tyler & Sabella, 2004). This paper will examine the advantages and the disadvantages of cybercounseling in terms of ethics, participant’s perceptions, and future perspectives. Advantages and Disadvantages of Cybercounseling Since cybercounseling is a relatively new medium of therapeutic intervention it lacks empirical research to determine its effectiveness (Maples & Han, 2008). However, this controversial topic is chosen because of the positive attitude to utilization of modern technologies in mental health services. It is believed that online counseling could gain popularity and be helpful in teaching healthy values large amount of people throughout the world. Two main benefits of this therapeutic medium are often discussed in the research articles. The first is its potential to
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