Testimonials & Links

A list of Online Counsellors recognised through the OnlineCounsellors.co.uk training scheme, their testimonials of the course and where applicable, links to their own web sites.

Phil Hoffer,
Private Practice

 The course has given a valuable insight into the world of online counselling and really demonstrates how much there is to think about before plunging into the work 

Sandy Thomson,
Counsellor

 I have found the course interesting and stimulating. I believe I have learnt a lot about Online Counselling, and how to translate my Face-to-Face Counselling Practice into an Online Practice in an effective and ethical manner. 

Eoin Stephens,
Counsellor, Ireland

 I found learning about this medium, from basic netiquette to concepts such as Online Disinhibition, Impression Formation, and Identity Management, very interesting. 

Vivienne Evans,
Counsellor, L\'Boro University

 ...most of my initial fears about online therapeutic work... have been dispelled by this training 

Helen Glatt,
Counsellor, Private Practice

 I have benefited enormously from this course. There were so many aspects that I hadn’t even considered and writing this piece has really helped me do what it says on the tin – bring it all together. Thank you. 

Declan Fitzpatrick,
Counsellor, Ireland

 My initial thoughts when reflecting on my experience of the course is just how surprised I was by the depth of the information and the breadth of the topics covered...Many of these issues would not have occurred to me at all in advance of the course and I am grateful to be made aware of them and to now have some understanding and training around them.  

Desnee Cunnane,
Counsellor Manager, PACE

 The course has gone so much further than I anticipated both personally and professionally in fulfilling my needs, in the sheer range of thought provoking and inspiring material. I have had the opportunity to have access to ideas, theories, information, and other hitherto completely unknown and unimagined areas of communication and visual media.  

Beth Salmon,
Counsellor, Relate

 [The course] has reassured me that I am a professional and competent counsellor within my particular areas of expertise (relationship counselling and sex therapy), and that it would be professionally appropriate and stimulating for me to expand my work into online. 

Amanda Lipman,
Counsellor, Terrence Higgins Trust

 I never thought I knew how to do internet counselling but I have become aware of aspects that I simply hadn’t considered. I’ve also had experiences that I’d never had before – entering a chatroom, answering a client’s email (therapeutically, that is), and ‘sitting in’ on two internet counselling sessions. In many ways, this experience has not only developed my understanding about internet counselling but has also enhanced my thinking about face-to-face counselling.  

Dermot Coonan,
Counsellor, Trinity College Dublin

 I hope to continue to link in with the online counsellors’ community and, where possible, look to attend more training. I believe this course has given me a really great start. I am really looking forward to taking on more online work with greater confidence and enthusiasm. 

David Robertson,
Counsellor, Coventry University

 Initially when I thought about training for online counselling I really wasn’t sure about practising within it. I remember saying to someone “this is something I’m either going to love or hate!”. The training has altered that thinking quite far along the scale towards potentially loving it!  

Jenny Leeder,
Counsellor, Wolverhampton University

 I enjoyed the online training, and learnt a great deal which will improve my computer mediated communication in general terms, from corresponding with colleagues and clients by email, to engaging with online forums (something I had not done before), to understanding a lot more about the world of Cyberspace and how people engage in it.  

Howard Delmonte,
PACE

 What has been challenging and fascinating to me whilst studying on this on-line training course is to listen to my own internal struggles as I have attempted to engage with a non-verbal and non –visual therapeutic medium. I believe that I have begun to experience and understand that the use of E mail as a therapeutic on-line medium is one that can be very supportive and containing for some clients.  

Susan Lory,
Southampton University

 I found this a hugely interesting, stimulating and challenging training course to be involved in... I would definitely say I have been completely educated into the online world. I feel, at the end of this course that I have gained a lot of knowledge about online counselling and, more importantly, a lot of insight into myself as a practitioner undertaking online counselling work. It has provided me with the confidence to begin my work in offering an online service to my client group.  

Bridget Hazell,
Nottingham University

 I've really enjoyed this course and have learnt a lot. Many thanks Kate. 

Suzie Hackett,
Counsellor, WRSVS

 The knowledge that I have gained from all these modes of online communication now goes some way towards my working with online clients in a more ethical and informed way 

Lorraine Page,
Worcester College of Technology

 I am more aware of my own strengths as a person online and I feel more confident and willing to counsel across, through or beyond cultural differences that include not just other countries but the cyber world as a dynamic and changing culture within its own right. This course has been a personal transformative experience for me both culturally and therapeutically. It has been a transitional process.  

Jill Sunter,
West Fife Community Drugs Team

 I gained a lot from the course and will be able to integrate all my learning into the new service that my agency plans to offer 

Geoff Cox

 I have been heartened by my research and through contact with others during this course (not least with **((Kate))** 0;-)) 

Gillian Garratt,
Private Practitioner/EAP counsellor

 I have learnt a great amount from this course. When I looked back over the exercises I had completed I was surprised at how much we had covered. I feel the course has been very much a process. I have enjoyed reading the articles and was respectful of the depth and high calibre of the material. It was challenging and thought provoking. I liked the layout of the course and the opportunity to connect with others by way of the forum. 

Jane Fortune,
ARCH Initiatives

 I found your course content stimulating and absorbing but above all, I found it not only relevant but 'essential', if one is to practice online. I believe it provides a solid foundation on which one can build through experience. Whilst I have always considered myself a reflective practitioner, this course has caused me to reflect from a new perspective on all aspects of my current face-to-face practice, knowledge and experience. How could it fail to? I want to say that this course structure and content is a work of genius. Thank you. 

Graham Thomas,
Psychotherapist and counsellor working in private practice

 I must confess, I was initially sceptical about online counselling. Surely the therapeutic encounter can only take place through a face-to-face interaction? And yet, as I reflect upon my own relationships, I realise that the technology simply disappears when a true online meeting occurs. This course has helped me to wrestle with some of the issues and to realise that much can be achieved through a sensitive online counselling service. 

Cathy Jago,
Private Practitioner

 My experience of doing this course has been one of fear and trepidation to start off with, but having explored the modules it has been interesting how my opinions and feelings have changed. I think the most important learning has been around how different a way of communicating this is, and how much more careful I need to be in the way I respond to clients emails. On reflection I have learned a lot from this course. 

Mary Buckwell,
Private Practitioner and Brighton Federation for Disabled People

 This course has equipped and encouraged me to look forward to the experience of working in different ways. To work alongside a professional, well trained colleague with the support of good supervision will enable me to branch out safely into internet counselling, and to think through with others appropriate ways to take the counselling project forward into untried ground. 

Adrienne Hirschfeld,
Brighton Federation for Disabled People

 New challenges have arrived and I will be able to face them; I have begun learning a new language; I want to continue and do more; it was fun. 

Jane Matheson,
Plymouth University

 This training is not an end for me, but has been an excellent starting point to better understand a new way of working that presents different challenges. I feel really excited now that I have a grounding and really look forward to progressing and learning more. 

Anne Chein,
NHS Tayside

 The course has certainly been thought provoking and has increased my knowledge and skills with regards to this way of working. It has also transformed my ways of using text to communicate with others. I feel there are many personal challenges ahead and I look forward to applying my new found online counselling skills and knowledge. 

Shirley Crookes,
Warwick University

 The course, with the references and exercises, has helped me to feel confident in playing a significant part in establishing a professional service. In conclusion, I have learnt a great deal and have thoroughly enjoyed doing the course. Thank you :o) 

Julie Troake,
Private Practitioner

 My knowledge of online counselling and the technologies involved in theis work has been enhanced by this course. There has been much “food for thought”. I have gained knowledge through experiencing what is is like to be in a chat room environment. Many questions have been asked of me to look deeper into the processes involved. 

Jodie Mason,
Webhealth.co.nz

 I have enjoyed the online training course and what I have learnt from doing and completing this course has been very beneficial both personally and professionally. I have learnt and gained many different skills in communicating online. Thank you to Kate and Peter for your support and for providing an excellent online training course! 

Dione Evans,
Webhealth.co.nz

 I have learned much in the weeks of participating in this training course: about communicating and working therapeutically online and also about myself 

Bella Brooks,
Harrow University

 First and foremost to actually learn online was a very valuable learning experience for me... going through the actual “online learning”... was very important and allowed me to get an insight and to relate to the learning that happens in a client-counsellor online relationship 

Richard Snowdon,
Integrative Counsellor in the NHS, Private and Voluntary sectors

 When I started this course I was cynical as to whether online therapy could work or not. I learnt both what is currently possible, and what the limitations are. What I had learnt was rigorously tested before I got through the course. The course provided a balanced perspective of online therapy. From it, I learnt what is essential for any therapist contemplating providing online therapy.

There seems to be an unnoticed moral argument for the provision of online therapy. It can assist people who cannot access face-to-face help because of various physical and psychological barriers. The need for online therapy, and relevant post qualification training is here. This course responds to it. 

Paul Carter,
Occupational Welfare Officer, Inland Revenue

 As someone who is new to online counselling, I found the course enjoyable and informative, giving me a sound background ready for dealing with communication online...
it is important to me that I deliver the best service as I possibly can within my boundaries of knowledge and experience, and that what I do is not harmful in any way to the client. 

Jane Evans,
Nottingham University Counselling Service,
Counsellor for Online Counselling and Counselling Supervision in Leicester

 The online counselling training has promoted an extensive amount of insight for me in the nature of this counselling work. I feel that it has provided me with a substantial grounding in the theory and practice of email counselling, and a starting point for setting up an email counselling provision within the university setting where I coordinate a counselling service. 

Anne McClure,
Occupational Welfare Officer, Inland Revenue

 The course has been very helpful in opening up my thinking about use of Internet and online therapeutic work. It has given me clear guidelines about how to work and the things to be mindful of. It has been useful in helping me transfer and refine my skills into written work. I now feel confident that I can work well in this medium and am enthusiastic about working in this way. 

Maggie Boyden,
Occupational Welfare Officer, Inland Revenue

 I appreciate the benefits of experience, as time has progressed and I have dealt with more clients online I can see that my style has changed slightly and my skills learnt on this course coming to the fore. It is important to me to provide the best and most appropriate service to my clients in what ever form they request this and online counselling is forming part of that service 

Edna Ashton,
GP Practice Counsellor and Private Practitioner

 Having completed this course I now feel a lot more confident about setting up an online counselling service for clients with CFS/ME. Whilst my learning will be ongoing I now have valuable resources that I can access on the Internet. 

Alison Hale,
Private Practitioner

 After taking this course and challenging some of my biases about the efficacy of virtual counselling, I feel more confident as an online practitioner and would like to set up a virtual practice. I have appreciated the discourse on the ethical considerations of virtual counselling and feel much more aware and able to practice effectively and ethically. 

Robbi Campbell,
Private Practitioner

 This has been a challenging, interesting and enlightening course for me. I have found it a very intensive six weeks and yet something that has expanded my thinking and therefore also my way of working. I have developed a great reduction in fear about and a real and growing enjoyment of the medium. I look forward to developing my skills and my practice as an online therapist. 

Geraldine Wilkes,
Occupational Welfare Officer, Inland Revenue

 I think the important thing for me with all of this coursework is that I have stayed with the theoretical approach that I have trained in and feel competent and confident with. I have been delighted to find that it has been perfectly possible for me to work as a person-centered counsellor online while integrating this training and believe that this has accounted for the quality of the work I have achieved. Although an experienced counsellor, I feel better equipped to offer this service as a result of taking part in this course. 

David Jones,
Counsellor, Europ-Assistance Holdings Ltd

 All of my experiences on the course have illustrated to me the way in which a clients experiences in, and relationships with, cyberspace will impact on any work that we do together. Some of the reading for the course spoke of the way that people can experience text based communicating as being more open and connected than spoken communication, that it can be experienced as mind to mind or soul to soul rather than face to face. This may provide the potential for more authentic ‘I - Thou’ relating. 

Hazel Ainsley,
City College Brighton

 I have experienced discovering the place of cyberspace within therapy as satisfying and hard work. Writing the Personal Learning Statement emphasised the many important similarities and few key differences with f2f work. My future plans will include using email more effectively and working hard to create the opportunity for clients to access the counselling service using IRC.

I know I will enjoy doing this. 

Janet Dewhirst,
Occupational Welfare Officer, Inland Revenue

 I completed the course because I have recently become involved in a new 'welfare online' service at work and I wanted to learn about providing online counselling. During the course I looked at online relationships and online therapeutic relationships, ethical considerations and experienced chatrooms, working with email and Internet Relay Chat...
I have had the opportunity to explore the question "is it possible to understand the clients emotions correctly when working online?" and to explore some of the benefits of working online. 

Marie-Jo Thauvin,
bodywhysConnect

 I now feel better equipped and more knowledgeable about delivering therapy online. I was keen to bring some theory behind my experience at bodywhysConnect and it was interesting to note some research in the field done in the mid 1990’s. Overall I feel confident about becoming an online practitioner. 

Lesley Sumner,
Private Practitioner

 I came onto this course with little real knowledge of how the Internet works. However, undaunted (!) I set about reading the recommended literature and slowly became more familiar with the terminology and more comfortable with it! I’d be lying if I said that I was now a whizz-kid on the internet, but I *do* have a better understanding. I did like learning about netiquette and how to apply it, and I wished I could sprinkle all my texts with little emoticons [though a dictionary would come in very handy :o)] I feel I’ve progressed from a newbie to a regular... Hurray!! 

Mike Booth,
Private Practitioner

 The course has provided a measured, stepping down into the waters of instruction, conducive to my personal learning