Counseling and therapy are delivered online both synchronously (in real time) and asynchronously. Examples of synchronous methods are phone, video conferencing, Skype and live chat. Examples of asynchronous methods include email, forums, bulletin boards or posted questions on a web-based medium. If you have spent any time at all on Twitter, you will have noticed that a lot of therapists, life coaches and business coaches are using the medium to promote their services. Even Tony Robbins, one of the most well-known coaches in America, is on Twitter (twitter.com/tonyrobbins).
Coaches and therapists, like marketers and personal trainers, have been among the early adopters of new technology as a way to generate business and connect with clients. While Twitter poses very specific limits on communication (140 characters, including spaces and punctuation, per message), other media are less restricting and offer more direct communication. With Skype (and Google Talk for those who use Gmail), we can even communicate face-to-face to anywhere in the world via free video phone service.
Be aware, though, that while Skype is confidential, social networking tools like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are not – they are viewable by others and are on the World Wide Web forever!
Ethics of Online Coaching
With new technology comes new risks. We have all heard about various banks and retailers who have had their computers hacked, thereby compromising the privacy of their customers. We need ethical standards and practice standards for how we conduct ourselves in the online environment. The International Coach Federation has ethical standards all coaches should follow, and this is no different for online coaches. In fact, we also need ethical standards around the use of technology.
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