In an age of technological advances, opportunities for counselling work extend beyond the counselling room. Skype is an effective way of being in touch with others wherever they are, all over the world. I have been able to counsel clients outside the UK, something I would not have thought possible in my early days of work.
However, there are difficulties inherent in this means of contact, such as technological ones when ‘the line’ goes down mid-session. Also, there is the important issue of eye contact. When you and your client speak, you are both looking at the camera attached to/inbuilt in the computer/laptop device and do not have direct eye contact with each other. In the moment of speaking, as you do not see the client, vital visual messages and clues given by the client are lost. Despite this, counselling outcomes can still be achieved and for many clients it is a preferred way of working.