User:Ugproject/Therapy247/Old
Template:New unreviewed article Therapy 24/7 located at this URL, is an online therapy website started by Billy Fitzgerald in Liverpool, England. The site offers e-therapy services to its users through the use of Blogs, message boards, and live chat.
History
The website was created as a recovery tool for ex-servicemen who suffered from PTSD but currently caters for other afflictions. Around the time of the site's inception, lots of Americans did not have access to proper healthcare.[1] The site is an online tool enabling people to share their experiences about recovery and information about how to deal with their afflictions. The site offers help for a variety of afflictions including alchoholism, depression, OCD, addiction and a host of other afflictions.
Using the site
Registration
Registration to the site is free. Anyone aroung the world can register and join in the site activities. During registration the user is required to provide their Name, a username for the site and a valid email adress.
How it works
The website is in the general format of a social networking site. Users communicate with each other using communication services like live chat, message boards. The site also had daily bulletings,posts,and rooms where members can go to meet people with similar afflictions and share experiences. Members on the site have some level of anonymity. Full names are only displayed to people you know. Members on the site can create groups and invite others to join the groups or can join groups created by other users. Users can also organise events and attend other people's events. The site has uses tools like the A's of recovery which act as guidelines in the recovery process of affliced members.
Benefits
Users with problems can meet people suffering from similar afflictions and can get together and help each other in recovery. Online therapy has the advantage of being a 'stay at home' type of treatment. This makes it more accessible to people who cannot go to doctors either due to financial constraints or because of fear. The site also gives therapists a chance to pass on coping strategies and skills to people with afflictions. Unlike the therapists offices, the site is able to provide its users with help on demand 24 hours a day every day. The site provides a chance for individuals to get cost effective help for problems without exposing their identities unecessarily. E-therapy is popular because of these attributes.[2] Online counseling is not really a new concept. Psychiatrists have used letters to carry out their duties for over a hundred years.[3]
References
- ^ American journal, Am J Public Health. 2003 January; 93(1): 16–19
- ^ Maheu, M. M., & Gordon, B. L. (2000). Counseling and therapy on the Internet. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. 31(5), 484-489
- ^ , Mulhauser, Gregory R. (2005) 9 Observations About the Practice and Process of Online Therapy.