Counselors’ Perceptions of Distance Counseling: A National Survey
Rakesh K. Maurya, Mary Alice Bruce, Sumedha Therthani
Abstract
Investigating how counselors perceive technology as a tool for delivering counseling services is crucial to understand the usage and challenges that may have implications for training programs, policymaking, and allocation of resources. With the COVID-19 crisis and accompanying shelter-in-place and self-distancing guidelines, telemental health, including distance counseling, has become a satisfactory primary delivery system and is now expected to be part of routine counseling care. The present pre-COVID-19 study explored practicing counselors' perceptions of distance counseling regarding advantages and challenges. While noting benefits, results indicate continuing barriers to widespread telemental health use encompassing licensure, training, safety, privacy, evaluation, and regulatory policies. Also, attention is needed for therapeutic relationships and culturally alert digital interventions. In addition, counselors can take advantage of rapidly changing technologies to provide numerous innovative counseling services. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)