Introduction

  The aspect of practice selected for this particular study is online counselling clients with mild to moderate depression. There are three pieces of evidence that will be critically analyzed in terms of their value and limitations to online counselling of mild and moderate depression clients. From these analysis, conclusions will be discussed in relation to the online counselling of mild and moderate depression.

 Evidence 1

 According to Egede et al., online counselling of clients with mild and moderate depression is convenient. This is because the counselor and patient have accessibility to each other at various periods. Online counselling eliminates the challenges that comes with setting up and booking appointments within conventional locations. While counselling mild and moderate depressed clients, this piece of evidence indicates that online counselling has the potential to minimize stigma tied to mental illness. Based on this piece of evidence, online counselling mild and moderate patients’ calls for the therapist to address client’s most urgent needs and put in place offer permanent and reliable counselling records so that they can build up from previous counselling sessions.

In the case of treating old patients, who stay far away in rural areas and experience health disparity due to the lack of proper mental medical facilities (Ruwaard et al., 2012). Telepsychology is a unique plan that aims to easily bringing therapy sessions close to the old patients. It is vital to note that old patients lack the means and financial ways of coming up with more than one personal channel of meeting their health needs, also taking into account the basic and immobility associated with old, online therapy session seems to be the best way of accessing these old individuals and solving their condition which in the long run can be helpful in saving lives and initiating a personal changing times with the world (Andrews et al., 2018). Therefore online therapy can address challenges that come with health disparities and in the meantime giving it is cheap to access technology than it is to walk into a mental institution to seek for medical services and advice (De Graaf et al., 2009).

In conclusion, mild and moderate patients’ needs can be met as long as the therapist both the patient and the specialist can reflect on the subject matter under discussion as well as examine the patient’s progress from previous sessions. Also, the therapist has to ensure that accountability standards are set high and recordkeeping is paramount during each session. In addition, good recordkeeping can act as an instrument for management and further discussion.

 The value of these piece of evidence is its application of recent learning material hence makes the evidence actionable and relevant to the topic under discussion. Also, the only limitation tied to this piece of evidence is the failure on unveiling how a therapist can make the online sessions more professional. More so patients with mild and moderate depression, counselling is the first step to the treatment. Therefore, the evidence does not explain how the patient can access other forms of medication if the online counselling session deem it so.

Evidence 2

Gros et al., (2013) highlighted using evidence-based online counselling as a way of reducing expenses and enlarging the psychotherapy framework. Online counselling of mild and moderate depression patients is possible due to the inclusion of more than one technological system such as modern day telecommunication systems. With telecommunication, one is able to store information, take pictures of the patient while at the same time aligning medical objectives to the outcome. Therefore, online counselling is not just two people talking, it is the integration of technology to monitor and manage the progress of the patient. The value of this information brings to light a chance to educate and decrease health disparities found in most of places. During the online sessions, the client can remain anonymous or reveal themselves to the therapist, this types of options give room to the exposition of more interventions for the therapist to explore. One of the primary advantage of incorporating other technological aspects during online counselling is the accurate results retrieved from such counselling. Patients can easily communicate via communication applications hence easing the systematic manner in which the therapist assesses information. On the other side, technology hinders actual follow up due to the physical distance separating the patient from the therapist.

Evidence 3

 According to Sally Brown’s sentiments, the world is changing at a rapid pace and therefore, online counselling is an inevitability. It would be prudent for prior preparation before online counselling can be made possible for patients suffering from mild and moderate depression. Instead of just embracing technology, therapists need to enroll for a training course that will equip them fully with the necessary BACP competencies (Brown, 2020). In order to meet the needs of mild and moderate depression patients, therapists have to undertake a course that will prepare them on critical mechanisms needed to handle the medical needs of mild and moderate patients. Therefore, these informs on issues that needs to be done before a specialist starts handling mild and moderate depression patients. Online counselling has to be as effective as the conventional form of counselling, training should be a mandatory starting point as it makes the treatment of mild patients sustainable. Training is helpful to the therapist as it helps prevent burnout and enables the therapist coordinate more than one aspect during the therapy session. Even though working online is recommended, one has to transition from in person to online as it makes work easier and the counsellor is able to hand more work while dealing with mild and moderate depression clients. Therefore, the relevance of these piece of evidence to online counselling of mild and moderate patients lies in the suitability. First one has to consider special consideration before assessing the patient during the sessions. In simpler terms, this piece of evidence helps therapist prepare for online counselling by informing on coping mechanisms and other types of preparation a therapist needs to make before commencing online counselling.

Online work or telehealth offers an increased availability to therapy for people with mental illness and even mobility issues (Gros et al., 2013). The advantages that come with supple preparation, accessibility to therapy in any place among other beneficial encounters. Also, the changing times, and the increased need for basic counselling needs makes online working a better option for treating mild depression. Sometimes, one cannot get hold of  the immediate surrounding and change the perspective of the client, it can be an opportunity has to teach the patient how to handle the specified underlying issues causing the illnesses without having to come to contact with him or her personally.

NICE Official Guidelines

Perceiving the future of therapy online platforms might need to be put in good use so as to meet the immediate needs of the patients. Even though the usage of telepsychology is speedily spreading across the world, the specialists need to keep in check all the physical mechanisms that can be used to regulate the practice from unscrupulous business men (Barak et al., 2008). The eventful use of these clinical services in and out of the medical institutions is not yet detailed to warrant a safety pass from most medical bodies hence it is the work of the therapists to ensure that everything is done according to the regulations and framework set in place by medical bodies. In addition, most of the times people with mild depression need more than counselling, some might need complementary services to accompany with the given counselling (Kwok et al., 2014). Therefore, it is up to the therapist to follow up on how the patient will gain access to the other complimentary services that ought to be accompanied with the other additional services.

Conclusion

 Online therapy has helped decrease the rising cases of mild depression. Mild depression patients are not in need of extensive levels of medical care hence online therapy serves as a good tool for opening up the conversation and pursuing further medical conditions. In most of the cases, online therapy has been able to come up with better ways of engaging the patients and making use of constructive conversation coupled with better evidence based intervention to deal with the patients.

 

 

 

 

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