I have talked about my tutoring job before. It is something that I enjoy very much. To contribute to teaching other counsellors how to work ethically and effectively online.
Two weeks ago we had a face to face meeting with all the present tutors to celebrate the fact that OLT has been around for 10 years. That alone is amazing, 10 years ago not that many counsellors were working online, many people still had very bad internet connections [dial up for instance] and we worried a lot less about encryption. It took some visionary minds to bring counselling online and from the start care about doing it well. To take into account that it was not the same as having a client in the same room with you and that you had to learn to do this well. So over the years the courses have evolved. The tutor team are always on the lookout for new inventions online and incorporate that into the teaching. One of the things that have become clear over the years is that online counselling is very well suited for both counsellors and clients with disability. Because you can work at your own pace, those with disabilities can decide not to work when they do not feel well.
We are still growing. Next year will be a very exciting year when we plan to ad many more workshops to our curriculum. And a whole new course is going to start, online superivision. We have just heard that this new course has been accredited by CPCAB. So if you are a counsellor who wants to branch out into this exciting field, please contact me for more details.
This week I want to talk some more on my favorite topic. Education for counsellors. If you read my post regularly, you will already know how important that is to me. That is the reason I qualified myself as an online counsellor next to my f2f diploma's in counselling and coaching. For those who want to train for online counsellling this courseis starting next week.
But being a counsellor means you keep learning, I think curiosity is a great trait to have for a therapist. This week I am attending a counseling conference that takes place in Second Life. [it will be on until saturday so you can still catch some of it. This is the 3rd year the virtual conference for counsellors is being held in Second Life. [if you don't feel secure enough in Second Life onlinevents is streaming it live from their website and you can still participate in the chat!] It is an excellent oppertunity to network, learn more about what is going on in the world of online counselling, new technologies and learning a lot more about virtual worlds and their possibilities. The starting day yesterday already had some very interesting topics. Most interesting yesterday was a discussion by Kate Anthony and DeeAnna Marz Nagel with the director of an upcoming documentary login2life.This documentary focusses on the positive sides of Second Life, how virtual worlds can be a haven a support for people with dissabilities. I can't wait to see the whole documentary!
I want to mention another online conference as well. Normally I do not go for paid conferences , but for this one I am making an exeption. The practice building conference is organised by Casey Truffo. Her book " How to be a wealthy therapist" is like a bible to me. A lot of therapists have problems with charging money for what we do and this book has helped me see that I am worth it! Marketing a practice is strangely enough not a part of most therapy training programs. That is were books and conference like this one come in. You gain so much knowledge and it is also such a great oppertunity to network and get to know other therapists. This alone can lead to business oppertunities somewhere in the future.
I am back from the OCTIA conference in Bristol, England. It was everything I had hoped for and I can recommend it to everyone.
The atmosphere at the conference is relaxed and respectful towards everyone as well as a delegate at the location or if you are following online through onlinevents.
The day started off with a lecture on websites and marketing by Gill Jones. It was very interesting for those who have not thought much about marketing yet and it gave me some great new tips to try out as well. And it was a very good start to the day.
It was followed by a lecture by Tim Bond on ethical and legal issues for Online Counsellors. This is an issue that I take very seriously, clients need to know that we work with high standards and working with us is safe. The lecture was very informative and again for me made clear that as a European Union we have to work closer and standardise things like the data protection act. So that there is one entry point in Europe were you can get this code and it is valid for clients from the whole European Union. I am sure we will get there one day. Right now I do inform my clients through my website and contract that I am very careful with their data and it is stored on a password protected hard disc stored in a locked cupboard.
After lunch there was a mindblowing lecture by Kate Anthony on the future developments in Online Counselling. Through examples [videos] she showed how virtual reality is already used in therapy and might be used even more in the future. I am interested in this but right now the technology is a bit beyond me. I just manage to get my avatar dressed in Second Life. Yet I do see the huge advantage of this kind of therapy. You can meet with the client in any kind of environment, a place they want to show you or somewhere they feel safe. Who knows in 10 years time we might be using holographic therapy, I do feel like the sky is the limit here.
The following presentation was very close to my heart. Chloe Morton and Jessica Shaw talked about cybermentors for children. They train children to mentor others and kids with all kinds of problems can find help online. Of course there are adult volunteer staff as well. So many young children are online these days but do not know how to protect themselves online and that way can get into huge problems. Projects like this are much needed.
Already it was time for the last lecture by Stephanie Palin on understanding online sex addiction. Again lots of new information delivered with passion. I now have a much better idea about when watching porn becomes an addiction and to understand there is much more behind it than just wanting to watch porn.
We had one extra. A video about psychological counselling online in Lithuania. Vilma Kurzieme talked about her work in Lithuania in a pre-recorded message. It is great to hear about their work and I know how passionate she is about it! And it shows online counselling is growing fast throughout the whole of the European union.
Too soon it was time to leave. It had been a great day with lots of new information and meeting great people. Many I had already met online but it is so great to meet in person as well. And to make new friends. Already looking forward to next year!
If you would like to know more about online counselling there is a great event taking place this saturday at the watershed in Bristol, United Kingdom. Octia 2011 [The reason my blog post is early this week, I am flying out later in the week!]
Have a look at the programme to see all that will be covered. You can see that online therapists take their work very seriously and we continue to educate ourselves and talk amongst ourselves how we can work ethically online. It is a great way to meet new people and see each other in the flesh as most of our work is done online from home.
If you are thinking about attending there are two ways you can do so. Come to Bristol in person or if you are unable to come you can attend the conference online.That is what I did last year. Onlinevents record the conference as it is taking place and the realy cool thing is the chatscreen where you can interact with other people attending online. This chat screen is projected on the wall of the venue and makes you feel as if you are really part of the conference. Your questions are seen by the speakers and replied to. Well worth to try out. So you can feel part of Octia wherever you are in the world.
Here you can see me talking about my online experience of last year's conference.
I will share more next week when I get back from my short break in Britain.
There has been a fiery discussion about the need of using encryption by online therapists going on on one of the lists I follow closely.
Maybe not everyody is completely clear on what encryption is. If I work online with clients I will use a special email adress like hushmail or safe-mail because I know they are encrypted so they are less easy to hack. For chatsessions I will also use a medium that is encrypted so others do not listen in on what we are talking about. In my country there are no laws yet that online counsellors have to do this. But those therapists working f2f are used to having to secure their data safely by law. They have to have a locked cabinet in their rooms where they keep all their sensitive data. Why should online work be any different? For me that means that I keep my client info and emails on a password protected USB stick and that the stick is kept in the locked cabinet.
Not all therapists think encryption is neccesary, basically because it means we ask clients to do more before therapy can commence. We will ask them to set up for an encrypted email account, or to learn how encrypted word documents work. Some therapists are afraid that this will scare clients off, and who would want to steal emails anyway? On the one hand you may say, they have a point. But who would want to steal your medical data from your doctor's office? Yet would you feel comfortable if they did not take precautions to keep your data safe? I think clients are smart enough to set up an email account. Most people do have gmail or hotmail already and it is not more complicated than that. And we occasionally might have to spend a little extra time explaining something. I for one do not mind that.
What I also urge is that clients take care of where they keep their own emails and chat session transcripts. Almost everything that goes on in therapy is very confidential and not something you might want to share with others. So if you share a computer [at work or at home] investing in a simple password protected USB stick is always a good idea.
I would welcome one clear rule that covers Europe on online work, some way that clients can see who they can trust. I have insured this as much as possible by getting verified at the online therapy institute. This is an international website that any therapist can join. And some go the extra mile by getting verified. The online therapy institute check your website and make sure that you meet their standards for working ethically online and that includes using encryption.
Please share your views on this post. I would like to hear what others think about this whole debate.
One of the things I love to work with when focussing on positive affirmations are affirmation cards. These can either be selfmade or bought. I like both and use them in therapy and for myself. My selfmade are on small notecards that I can decorate as I like. On these I will write affirmations that mean something like me and I will put them in places around the house whee I know I will see them often.
The second kind of affirmation cards I like to use are those that you can buy in shops and online. Most bookshops will carry some of them, for me the new age bookshop in town carries several of them. I don't often buy them online as I have found that these kind of cards are very personal. The lay-out and the artwork of the cards has to speak out to you.
There are many kind of cards you can find. I have scanned some of my favorites. They include two series of cards from Louise Hay. "Health and body" cards and "I can do it" cards. From both sets one example of front and back are shown. With these sets I will chose one or more that somehow call out to me that day. Things I feel good about already or aspects of my life that are a little shaky and I need some reenforcement about. As with my selfmade cards I will place them around the house and will look at them several times a day and even repeat the affirmations.
Not strictly affirmation cards but still favorites of mine are the "wolf song cards" These I will draw randomly and then look in the booklet that comes with the cards what this animal has to teach me today. The totem animal I picked today is the brown bear and it stands for: choises, decision & options. And that does make sense to me.
I might hear you ask how I can use all this online? In several ways really. I can look for online sites were I can find cards and work with those. If I want to work with the cards with clients we can do so together using a whiteboard on which we can both enter information. This works really well in a chat session. When working through email, I can scan and add images of cards that I think would have meaning for a client and they can leave them on their computer or make prints and put them on places throughout the house that feel good for them. Or any other means that they can think of. The possibilities are infinite.
This post has been written with the help of my part-time dog Nina, who when she visits me loves to sit next to me to watch me work and then when it is ready she will look the article over and add her approval. Or not.
Last week I asked friends what they would like to find on a website if they were looking for a coach/counsellor. I can keep adding what I like, but I would rather that it gives the reader what they are looking for. So keep an eye on my safe haven website as well as this blog for many new additions. To give you an idea of things to come:
More factual information on what it means to be Highly Sensitive or to live with Chronic pain.
When is pain chronic?
Tips on conserving energy
Book tips
Pain diary [track your pain through the day]
Mood tracker
online diary
And much much more. If you have ideas of what you would like to see included here, just tell me. Who knows your idea might very well make it to my websites.
It looks so easy doesn't it? When you see a webpage, blog, etc that looks pretty and is driving a lot of traffic. Until you start your own marketing campaign and you come from a background were you never learnt how to do it and are not a wizard with computers. It is easy to get stuck. It threatened to happen to me.
For a year I saved links to websites that were useful, made lists of what I would do in my marketing campaign and when I finally sat down to do something about it, I had so much that I did not know were to start. In stead of panicking I sat down and asked myself. What would I ask a client to do in this situation?
Then it became clear to me and soon I had a shortlist.
Ask for help. Talk to your own coach/experts for pointers
Make a mindmap to structure.
Set goals [week, month, half year]
Don't make the goals so big I can't achieve them
Go back to the marketing plan and break it down even more so it becomes manegable
Select a few things to work on and concentrate on them for a while.
Right away the fun in marketing was back for me! I coached myself and am back on track.
More on coaching, counselling and marketing next week.
I believe information is very important not only to a counsellor. I think when you have a business and you work with clients it is your duty to always keep looking for information and be the best you can be. That is why I love to attend seminars and such online to further my knowledge. Next of course to my addiction to books. I am always reading up on new matters and subjects that I want to learn more about.
Yesterday I attended the Open Office Hours of the Online Therapy Institute. If you are a fellow therapist reading this and you want to know more about working online, have a look at the website, it is full of very useful information. And there is a forum you can join and chat with other therapists. And try to attend one of the coming open hours. Every other month they are held in Second Life. Yesterday was in Second Life and that also gave me the opportunity to learn more about that medium. [Yes I am reading a book about Second Life right now as well]
For me it was very interesting to talk about marketing ideas and brainstorm about my personal dream of there being a global insurance company in the future so that therapists can work with clients from all over the world easier. A big thank you to Kate and DeeAnna for sharing your time for free.
One of the challenges of a physical disabilies is finding a way around them, so you can continue to enjoy life to the fullest. It is one of my 'jobs' as a counsellor for people to terms with chronic pain. It is a road I have travelled myself, so I understand the frustrations and the anger and yes, also the despair. We all have days were you think it is never going to get better. Those are the days it helps to talk to a friend or a counsellor and that different perspective can give you ideas to go on and to see the fun again.
What changed my life and made studying and later work possible again is a program called Dragon Naturally Speaking. My problem was that suddenly writing and typing were much more difficult. And writing had always been the way I expressed myself. I certainly was not about to give that up, so thanks to the internet I started to look for ways around my problem. Soon I found a program called Dragon Naturally Speaking, and it became my lifeline. Through the years I have gone through a couple of versions, every version more accurate were I can just talk to my computer in both Dutch and English and the program translates my words to text with little or no mistakes. These days I can type again on most days, but it is such a comfort to know that my program is there on the computer for the hard days.
That is what is all about, finding the little things that make life easier, knowing the support is there, knowing your limits and within those limits: ENJOY!
One of the things I like to work with online is diaries or journals. I use them both professionally and personally. Since online counselling works with the written word anyway, this age old technique is easilly adapted. You can chose a form and medium that fits you:
a plain piece of paper
a nice album
a blog online
a word document on your computer
But that is only the start. If you think a written document is always boring and just ink or computer letters, think again! This form of writing can also appeal to people who like to paint or even scrapbook. Like I am doing here with images, you can use any form creativity to make your document look nice. On the computer you can further work with colors, and drawing, you can photoshop your photo's. On paper the world is your oyster. Draw, paint, do whatever you like to make your document look the way you want it, and feel like it is yours.
How does this tie in with therapy you might ask? It helps you to find who you really are. For some people this is achieved by writing, this can be free writing, or from suggestions of your therapist. You will be amazed how much surfaces when you set pen to paper. The same way with drawing. A therapist might ask you to draw your perfect house, or draw a picture of how you see yourself and than see what happens. Don't worry you don't have to be an artist to achieve this. What is important is that it is coming from your soul.
Curious? On the left you can see one of the books I love to perruse and work with. The auther is Capacchione and the title the creative journal.
Why not give it a try? And if you would like more guidance you can always contact me.
I grew up in such a different world. When I was a teenager there were no computers. [And I am not even ancient] No mp3 players, DVD players or mobile phones. We were lucky to have kids programs on one of the two tv channels on wednesday afternoon for three straight hours.
Boy what a different world it is today. Most kids have their own computer next to their other electronic toys. And for a lot of adults teenage conversations are hard to follow. Think about text message language that is finding it's way to being used on the computer as well. For therapists it poses more problems. When you start to work online, you have to think carefully about how you want to present yourself online. What do you want clients to be able to find about you? And are you going to try to find out about clients? And what about the past? The things that are already online?
Try to google your name for example and to many people it comes as a shock what is out there. Comments you made on your favorite rockband's homepage, a comment in a digital guestbook of a museum you visited 10 years ago. Those are pretty innocent, but what about those pictures of a roudy party your friend has but on facebook because they think it was funny and they were friendly enough to tag you in it and make it public to the whole world. However carefull you are yourself with 'only friends' settings, those are things you just cannot control.
What you can control is what you put online yourself from this moment and your own policy. For me this means that I will not add clients online for my private facebook and hyves pages. And I put all my settings on friends online. It is not that I don't like my clients, but I want to keep my private life and my professional life seperate. Also I am bound by my ethical code to do so. I make this very clear on my professional website. Clients are more than welcome to follow me on my professional sites, like this blog, and my professional facebook, hyves or twitter page.Likewise I state that I will not google my clients names or look for them on social media. These things are not law yet and maybe never will. But I think it makes life a whole lot easier and friendlier if we all stick to basics like these.
Safe Haven Coaching offers general coaching an counseling through email and messenger/skype. I also offer the following specialities: I coach highly senstive people who are 'bothered' by noises, strong emotions and the moods of others to deal with these situations differently. This way it is easer to function better during work and social interactions and 'space' is created to develop the joys of being sensitive. I also coach people with cronic pain problems who have troubles integrating the pain in their lives. Through exercises and coachingtalks/e-mails I offer new insights and as a result you will have more energy to spend on the nice things in life. The therapy is very goal orientated and geared towards your wants.
Voor wie is Safe Haven Coaching? Ik bied algemene coaching en counseling zowel f2f [ op lokatie] als via email en messenger/skype. Verder ben ik gespecialiseerd in het coachen van hooggevoeligen die 'last hebben' van geluiden, te sterke gevoelens en stemmingen van hun omgeving om hier beter mee om te gaan. Hierdoor kun je beter functioneren in werk en relaties en ontstaat er ruimte om de voordelen van je gevoeligheid te ontwikkelen. Verder begeleid ik mensen met chronische pijn, die moeite hebben deze pijn een plaats in hun leven te geven. Door oefeningen en coachingsgesprekken/e-mails bied ik inzicht in de situatie en daardoor komt er meer energie voor de leuke dingen van het leven.
We are still growing. Next year will be a very exciting year when we plan to ad many more workshops to our curriculum. And a whole new course is going to start, online superivision. We have just heard that this new course has been accredited by CPCAB. So if you are a counsellor who wants to branch out into this exciting field, please contact me for more details.
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