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The INDEPENDENT, February 19, 2009
Have you been wondering if online counseling can work for you?
by the American Counseling
Association
From groceries to diamond
jewelry, you can have practical-
ly anything delivered via the In-
ternet today. That list includes
not just merchandise, but per-
sonal services as well, includ-
ing online counseling help, or
“cybercounseling” as it’s some-
times called.
It’s a service a lot of people
are using. For someone suffer-
ing from a fear of crowds or go-
ing outdoors, or who’s ill and
housebound, online counseling
can be a great alternative. But,
due to its ease and conven-
ience, a lot of people are taking
advantage of such online serv-
ices. It’s important to remem-
ber, however, that it’s not right
for every person or every prob-
lem, and it always lacks the
face-to-face interaction that can
sometimes help in communi-
cating.
Many highly qualified coun-
seling professionals now offer
very effective help via online
counseling, but you need to
check out any counselor before
starting work with them. It takes
little effort or expense to create
a website and call yourself a
“counselor,” despite lacking ap-
propriate credentials or train-
ing.
Professional organizations,
such as the American Counsel-
ing Association, have estab-
lished ethical standards for cy-
bercounseling that provide on-
line counselors with clear
guidelines to protect con-
sumers working with them.
These standards require that
counselors should offer com-
plete and honest disclosure
about themselves and their
services. An online counselor
should make it easy to find out
what degrees are held and in
what fields, what licenses and
certifications are held, and pro-
fessional organizations in
which the person participates
(such as the American Coun-
seling Association or the Amer-
ican Psychological Associa-
tion). Does the counselor spe-
cialize and have experience
and expertise in the area where
you are seeking help?
Where is the counselor lo-
cated? There are now cases in
courts asking whether it’s legal
for someone to be offering
counseling services in a state
where he or she is not licensed.
Answering such questions
still does not guarantee the
quality of the services being
provided. A legitimate profes-
sional will offer a trial period,
without requiring an expensive,
long-term commitment, so you
can judge if the services of-
fered are helpful for you.
A professional counselor, fol-
lowing the ACA ethical guide-
lines, will inform a client early in
the relationship if cybercoun-
seling is not the correct ap-
proach, and should suggest al-
ternatives better suited to the
problem.
Online counseling can be a
valuable resource for many
people, but it does have its lim-
itations. Ask questions and
evaluate carefully to make sure
it’s the best way to get the help
you need.
De-stress any disagreements with your boss
by the American Counseling
Association
In any work situation it’s in-
evitable that there will be times
when you’ll have differences
with someone higher up the
food chain. Too often we react
to such situations emotionally,
find ourselves feeling stressed
and then end up wishing we
had handled things differently.
Rather than second guess-
ing yourself, we’d suggest try-
ing a logical approach to dis-
agreements that may not al-
ways get you what you want,
but that can reduce stress and
leave you happier with how you
handled things.
Start by accepting that you
can’t change your boss, or any-
one else. If your problems are
growing out of the type of per-
son he or she is, or how he or
she works as a business per-
son, accept that this is simply
the way things are. Don’t waste
time and increase your stress
by trying to change what can’t
be changed.
Next, decide whether to deal
with the problem now or later.
There’s no right answer. Maybe
tackling it now will make you
look argumentative, but wait-
ing might lead to bigger prob-
lems.
You also need to decide
whether to deal with the differ-
ences directly or indirectly.
Talking with the boss in the
right way, at the right time, can
sometimes be effective. But
there are also times when talk-
ing to a friend might give you a
better perspective on the situa-
tion.
Once you’ve made those de-
cisions, begin a logical, prob-
lem-solving approach to the
disagreement. Start by decid-
ing how important the disagree-
ment is. Don’t let emotions
make you waste a mountain of
energy on a molehill-sized
problem.
Next, consider all the possi-
ble courses of action. Most sit-
uations have many possible so-
lutions. Be realistic in evaluat-
ing how each might work and
what outcomes might be
achieved.
When you’ve decided on the
best alternative, take action to
implement it. Your final move
then is to step back and evalu-
ate the outcome.
You may end up finding that
things still aren’t quite right and
you need to go back through
the process again, trying a dif-
ferent alternative.
There’s no guarantee that
every problem is fixable or that
your boss will always agree
with your solutions. Rather, it’s
important to remember that
your final objective is not to
change your boss, just to feel
good about how you’ve han-
dled the situation. Taking a log-
ical, considered approach to
disagreements can mean less
stress and a better work envi-
ronment.
Col. Co. Republicans set meeting
Columbia County Republi-
cans’ monthly meet-up will be
held Friday, February 27, 7:00
p.m., at Mr. Joe’s Coffee Cafe,
555 South Columbia River
Highway in St. Helens. Every-
one is welcome to this informal
gathering. Come early and or-
der food if desired.
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