Kate Anthony

OTI Europe Ltd | Consultancy, Personal Training and Research for Online Therapeutic Services

   
  • Home
  • About
    • CV
  • Speaker
  • Consult/Supervision
  • Online Therapy Training
  • CPD Specials
  • Coach Courses
  • Work with Young People?
  • COVID 19 Telehealth course
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Work with DV?

Omnichannelled Therapy – the Future of the Profession

July 24, 2015 by Kate Anthony

ForeSee-Omnichannel-Customer-ExperienceFor a while now when describing the rise of using technology to deliver therapeutic services, I’ve found it helpful to include traditional ways of how we work within the definition.  This was helped immensely by taking the writing of my hero Douglas Adams into account, and particular his thoughts on technology itself in his seminal 1999 article “How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Internet”:

“We no longer think of chairs as technology, we just think of them as chairs. But there was a time when we hadn’t worked out how many legs chairs should have, how tall they should be, and they would often ‘crash’ when we tried to use them.“

It could be argued that chairs themselves are a necessity of being a therapist – I’m pretty confident in saying we all use them when communicating with clients. So in considering this traditional way of conducting a therapeutic session, we can include face-to-face work as a technology as well. Adams published that article at around the same time that I joined forces with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy to develop the early Guidelines for Online Counselling and Psychotherapy, the backbone of the ethical advice and competencies for online practitioners we have today, and so I think the time is ripe for us to move on as a profession after over 15 years.

I just did a podcast with the lovely people over at counsellorcpd.com (available early September, check back for the link), and it started me thinking again about how we talk about online therapy as a whole. I described during the podcast how only last year I yet again had the debate about what to call services delivered over the Internet – is it e-therapy, is it teletherapy, is it online therapy…?

Well, how about we take the technology out of the description and just go back to not thinking about that too much? How about we go back to the core of what we do – two or more human beings working together with therapeutic intention to improve someone’s mental health and ability to deal with life’s challenges?

How about we just call it, er, therapy?

So I want us to look at this in a new way, taking into account all the many avenues of communication we have available to us now – be that face-to-face, telephone, email, chat, video, virtual environments or smoke signals.  It’s a therapeutic interaction, a relationship, two or more people talking intentionally. It really as simple as it’s always been – we just need to recognise that if we take away the need to think about the screens and keyboards and plugs and chargers and on-buttons and pretty flashing lights, we’re left with the therapeutic relationship itself.

We can offer this relationship in a myriad of ways now, and we can be less restrained by factors such as place or time. The client can choose how and when they want to work, and the practitioner can choose how and when to offer their services.  Want to work for 50 minutes in a room with two chairs and a box of tissues? Fine! Want to pick up a telephone and call a helpline spontaneously? Also fine! Want to reach out to your therapist via instant message but not book an entire session? Very fine! Want to journey through a virtual world as an avatar on an epic journey with your counsellor, seeking self-enlightenment? Awesome! That’s just omnichannelling, a word already widely used by marketers looking to improve their customer experience (thanks to ForeSee for the image I borrowed btw).

So I’m going to move further away from the distinction of the offline and the online, take away the need to define therapy by how we deliver it rather than what it is we are actually doing, and if we really need to call it something to remind us we’re not necessarily physically in a room anymore (but it’s OK if we are!), just call it omnichannelled therapy.

I like to think Douglas Adams would be proud of me.

🙂

Cautionary Tales in Using Social Media

April 29, 2015 by Kate Anthony

I saw this story from my news source Naked Security this morning, and it set me thinking about just how important our social media presence is as professionals who have a client base.

In brief, a judge (yes, an actual County Judge) overseeing a troubling case about a man who allegedly imprisoned his 9-year old son as a punishment took to Facebook to comment on what was going on inside the courtroom.  Her status updates included comments on items of evidence being submitted and links to news stories about the case. By doing so, she cast “reasonable doubt” on her own impartiality, and the defence team moved to have her struck from the case (successfully).

Now, without getting into a discussion about what her rights are under the USA First Amendment itself (which I don’t think any of us have time for at the moment), this story does give us an important reminder about the responsibilities we have to preserve the confidentiality of our clients, whatever our profession.

computer and social media icons blue backgrounds

When you, as a professional, see something on the internet go viral, consider what the impact would be on your client if the same thing happened to your post, however well intentioned it was and however much you had thought you had disguised the client information.  The nature of social media is in the title!  It’s designed to be “social”.  Therefore, what you post on social media isn’t meant to be a private observation about something – and if it can be shared, it runs the risk of being shared to people who know your client and can identify them.  That’s the first consideration of confidentiality gone out of the window straight away.

I’ve seen colleagues on Facebook express relief in a status post when a “difficult” client cancels, and I’ve seen them note being late hitting the road to a client appointment the “morning after the night before!” These posts may be done flippantly, or even intended not to be taken entirely seriously (the second example included a winky, btw).  But before you post anything to the unforgiving (and permanent) internet, remember what it will look like out of context and before a client complaints panel by your professional organisation. If you are in any doubt at all about the implications of what you are about to post – just don’t post it.

All our trainees taking our Certified Cyber Facilitator or Certified Cyber Therapist course get training in using social media as a mental health professional. If the story about the Texas Judge makes alarm bells ring about what you are putting out there on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN or any of the other social networks, please do consider joining them!

🙂

Online Learning – throw in your own buffet and it’s just like being there!

March 30, 2015 by Kate Anthony

I recently co-wrote an article with John Wilson of OnlinEvents in TILT Magazine (see page 13) about the subtleties of attending online conferences and how, if you ignore the lack of a decent buffet, the learning experience can be just as rich and fulfilling as being actually at the conference centre.  A big part of this is the delegate chat room being fully functional to allow like-minded people to connect, network, have fun, and discuss the learning points as they are taught. I’ve been to countless online webinars and other events, and rarely come away disappointed. I’ve even remotely been at a stable in Chesterfield to learn and discuss Equine Therapy!Cover TinyTake

Our students attend many online events as part of their learning, and so I am really pleased to blog about the upcoming interview with Jane Fahy, who is not only a graduate of our Certified Cyber Facilitator Course but who is also now an OTI Tutor, having written our course about using blended technologies (i.e online and offline sources) to help those with a gambling addiction.

Having got bored with world of finance seven years ago, Jane retrained as a counsellor and has been specialising in working with problem gamblers ever since as Clinical Services Manager for GamblingTherapy.org, heading up the online support services. As her initial work with the organisation was as a face-to-face counsellor in their residential services, she has seen both sides of the treatment coin!

I put Jane in touch with John at OnlinEvents and now I can share details of the upcoming FREE webinar on the 17th April at 7.30pm UK time. So if you have an interest in learning more about online support and counselling – and how that works on the global stage – make sure you sign up for the event here!

And why not treat yourself and put on a complete buffet selection? That way you’ll have the full conference experience!

🙂

New Year, New OTI Tutor!

January 14, 2015 by Kate Anthony

It’s a total pleasure for us to be starting the new year with a new appointment to the OTI Tutor Team!

Jane Fahy graduated from the Online Therapy Institute in 2013 with her Certified Cyber Facilitator qualification, and since then has been hard at work with GamblingTherapy.org as their Clinical Services Manager, a global online service for those affected by problem gambling. She also undertakes face-to-face work with problem gamblers in a residential setting for the Gordon Moody Association, and has been working with this client group for six years.  She is a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).

At OTI, we are always looking to expand our suite of online training courses – this is why our course offerings encompass topics as diverse as cognitive behavioural coaching, handling emotions at work, domestic violence, working with essential oils, and success motivation, alongside our core topics of transferring therapeutic skills to an online practice environment as a coach or therapist.  Inviting Jane to join the tutor team, with her experience as both an online counsellor and a gambling addiction specialist was an obvious choice!

Jane and I look forward to officially launching the course in the coming week or two – it is ten hours of online study over eight modules, self-paced and designed to fit around other commitments, and will teach you how to blend offline and online technologies to reach those affected adversely by gambling and help them on the road to recovery!  Jane will be giving personal one-to-one tutoring to each student in our unique OTI way!

Modules include:Cover TinyTake

  • How do you know if someone has a gambling problem?
  • The theory of problem gambling
  • Working with problem gamblers
  • Working with friends and family
  • Online support for problem gamblers
  • Gaming and internet use for problem gamblers
  • Managing suicide and risk online
  • Using blended technology in a face to face and residential setting

Watch this space for updates, or email jane.fahy@hushmail.com to register your interest!

 

Next Page »

Lost?

Are you looking for counselling?...
Online or Offline

If you are in immediate distress or you feel suicidal and are in the UK then please visit the Samaritans.

In other countries, please contact Befrienders International.

Connect with Kate

Tweets

Tweets by @KateAnthony
© 2020 Online Therapy Institute Europe Ltd