THUNDER BAY – Our community continues to engage with the Internet. People in Thunder Bay are now able to get counselling services right from the comfort of their own home. Today, Thunder Bay Counselling Centre, Children’s Centre Thunder Bay, and the Catholic Family Development Centre joined together to officially launch online counselling services in the community. Thunder Bay Counselling Centre Executive Director, Nancy Chamberlain, says; “The internet is changing the way people shop, connect with friends, do banking and as of today, also changes the way people in the city get access to health services. Online counseling completely changes the way counselling is conducted in Thunder Bay.
Anyone who can navigate the web can enter the world of online counselling” At today’s go-live event, those in attendance got to witness the online service first hand as a counsellor demonstrated how a session works.
The service is based on confidential secure e-mail exchanges, creating an automatic transcript of all sessions for the client. Children’s Centre Thunder Bay Executive Director, Tom Walters, says; “This is an effective way of providing counseling. Writing about one’s experiences can itself be therapeutic and the transcription allows for greater transparency as clients can go back and review previous emails. It really slows down the process.”
On-line counselling records thoughts and feelings, similar to journalling and is a means to reach out to all age groups. The service has the power to reach out to clients that counsellors typically wouldn’t get to work with. Catholic Family Development Centre Executive Director, Rob Barrett, says; “For some people it is almost a challenge getting to an office for a counselling session. With busy schedules and people living in remote or isolated areas, clients now have the option to receive counselling right at their fingertips, on their own terms.”
Back in April of 2011 the three agencies announced that online counseling services were coming to the web in Thunder Bay. Since then ten counselors have gone through training and are now certified to provide the service.
Those interested in online counseling can contact the Thunder Bay Counseling Centre, Children’s Centre Thunder Bay or the Catholic Family Development Centre. All potential patients will go through a pre-screen process to ensure serious cases are handled face-to-face. After determining that a patient can get online treatment, they will be provided with a website to go to where they can securely register and log into their very own confidential email system.