Integrating Cyber Counselling Into Practicum: Perceptions From MSW Practicum Interns and Student Clients

Background and Purpose: Individuals of all ages utilize technology including instant messaging, social networking sites, e-mail, and websites as their preferred method of connecting and interacting. Cyber counselling provides a response to this cultural shift by offering therapeutic services online. Client demand for cyber counselling, in addition to the number of practitioners offering cyber counselling, is expected to rise dramatically in the coming years (Norcross, Hedges & Prochaska, 2002; Stamm, 1998; Wright, 2002). Despite this growth, and potential to reach underserved populations, little is known about experiences of cyber counselling. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of MSW practicum interns and their clients (undergraduate students), in order to increase our understanding of the provision of cyber counselling within social work education and practicum settings.

Methods: A cyber counselling practicum was developed at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, whereby for six MSW interns, their practicum comprised providing counselling to undergraduate students. Undergraduate students self-referred to the service, and were offered the choice of face-to-face counselling, cyber counselling, or a combination of both modalities. Of 51 clients who sought counselling, 20 expressed an interest in cyber counselling. Three clients were lost in follow-up. A total of sixteen undergraduate students between 18 and 30 years of age, and all six MSW interns, consented to in-depth, semi-structured interviews at the termination of the counsellor-client relationship. The clients (undergraduate students) had sought counselling for such reasons as anxiety, drug use, academic concerns, disordered eating, and non-specific personal reasons.

Results: Interviews were analyzed to create categories and themes (Merriam, 2002). Constant comparison led to groupings of similar concepts (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). Themes that emerged from the perspectives of MSW interns included: factors unique to cyber counselling versus face-to-face counselling (e.g., cyber counselling provided a forum to discuss topics that may have been too uncomfortable to talk about face-to-face); accessibility to reach clients; ways to approach difficult clinical issues during cyber counselling; issues related to response drafting such as miscommunication; and emotional communication and connection (e.g., inability to “share” certain experiences, such as laughter). In addition, qualitative analyses identified five themes from the perspectives of the cyber counselling clients: advantages including access to counselling while away from school and financial benefits such as not having to pay for transportation; challenges related to cyber counselling, including logistical issues such as remembering passwords; opportunities to reflect on text content provided by counsellors; concerns regarding expressing and understanding emotion in cyber counselling, particularly due to the gap in time between an email sent by a client and the response sent by the practicum intern; and challenges associated with response drafting, such as the desire to constantly edit emails.

Conclusions and Implications: Most practicum interns and clients identified cyber counselling as positive and as usefully augmenting their face-to-face counselling. Findings contribute to emerging scholarship on the use of cyber counselling within social work education and practicum settings. These findings highlight the complexities of cyber counselling, and the challenges and opportunities unique to this modality.