The plethora of online services now available has led to a growing demand for practitioners to look beyond traditional face-to-face therapy and take advantage of the flexibility which email and the Internet can offer them and their clients. The guide gives up-to-the minute information and research, ethical and legal advice, on the practicalities of setting up or joining a service, and the essential therapeutic skills needed to be an effective online therapist.

Writing for an international audience, the authors discuss the issues for practitioners using the Internet today, as well as in the future. Basing their study on published empirical research, they address:

Text-based therapeutic interventions such as email, Internet Relay Chat, forums and mobile phone texting, from the perspective of different theoretical orientations, illustrated with case studies; Supervision and online research; Other therapeutic uses of technology including use of video therapy, telephone therapy, Virtual Reality environments, gaming, and computerized CBT

The authoritative guide to all aspects of being an online therapist, this practical text is a vital addition to any therapist's library. It will also be valuable reading for anyone training to be a counselor or psychotherapist in our increasingly ‘electronic’ world.