The Barriers and Challenges of the Development of Online Counselling After the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic
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Authors
Lee, Chun Yeung (Kelvin)
Issue Date
2022-01
Type
Capstone
Language
en
Keywords
online counselling , telehealth , telemental health , covid-19 , legal , ethics
Alternative Title
Abstract
Online therapy has been around as an alternative delivery method for clients who are unable to attend to a therapy session in-person. The main concerns and limitation on online therapy is mainly focus on the difficulties for therapist to capture and notice their client's body language, micro-expressions, and other subtle cues that may provide information for the therapist. However, many in-person therapy sessions were canceled and had no choice but to switch to online platforms such as zoom, google hang-out, and skype due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Therapist were forced to adapt to the new delivery format to abide the orders from the health officials for public health reasons. This provides an opportunity for us to explore the benefits and challenges of online therapy. The advancement of technology over the past decades allows us to connect virtually with a much better quality in compared to a decade ago. The population and accessibility of smartphones and tablets allow clients to connect with their therapist at anywhere, and anytime. This project aimed to review the current states of online therapy from multiple aspects, including the benefits and challenges of meeting clients virtually, regulations, legal concerns, ethical concerns, challenges, and more.