When It's OK to Use Online Marriage Counseling
The World Wide Web has opened a variety of opportunities for many people - including marriage counselors and those who seek their help.
But does online marriage counseling really work? And when is the time to seek it out?
Let's face it - we do our shopping via the Internet, we communicate with friends via the Internet and conduct business via the Internet. Why not undergo online marriage counseling via the Internet?
Thanks to various "instant message" services and chat rooms, online marriage counseling is becoming a viable option to the more traditional, face-to-face method of therapy.
Supporters of online marriage counseling claim their clients receive the same attention and care that they would in an office set-up. But the two advantages of going online to repair a marriage are:
- such counseling is anonymous, and
- it's convenient
For a career couple with kids, taking off time in the middle of the day -- or even early evening -- just isn't possible. So logging on for online marriage counseling is the way to go, right?
Well, in some cases, yes. If you're one-half of a couple with minor domestic issues, such as who controls the checkbook, then online marriage counseling could be beneficial.
But if there are several cracks in your marriage due to long term problems and emotional baggage you might both be carrying into your relationship, the more traditional therapy is your best direction.
The other difficulty with online marriage counseling is finding the right therapist. In a face-to-face encounter, you can learn immediately if the counselor is the right fit for you. But it's more difficult in an instant messaging situation.
Verifying credentials can also be a challenge. Most marriage therapists have their diplomas and certificates on the wall -- not to impress you, but to tell you that they're qualified in their jobs.
Sure, a therapist can indicate in an online marriage counseling situation that he or she has various college degrees or is qualified as a counselor. But unless you're willing to talk to the school in which the therapist trained, you really don't know.
We're not trying to discourage online marriage counseling. There are some good benefits to it. But for really serious problems in a relationship, face-to-face is the best way to go.
