Online Guidance and Counseling: Toward Effectively Applying Technology

To help practitioners improve their practices and aid trainees in understanding online therapeutic intervention, as well as aid in the development of online guidance and counseling in the developing world, Popoola and Adebowale (guidance and counseling, Obafemi Awolowo U., Nigeria) compile 14 chapters on online guidance and counseling services for busy and mobile individuals and students and others from poor and deprived areas of the world. They also show the cultural influence on obtaining counseling services and online guidance and counseling as a remedy for international crises and troubled regions. Specialists in counseling, pharmacy, education, and psychology from Nigeria, Australia, the UK, and the US describe the findings of a study on the behavior of secondary school students in online counseling interaction in Australia; components of "faceless" interactions; emotion and communication on the Internet; ethical issues; the importance of intimacy and relational communication; research on text-based online therapeutic relationships; online counseling to improve medicine use among those with HIV/AIDS; strategies to enhance the therapeutic relationship to bring about change; counseling for children and young people in Kenya; technical requirements; the role of technology in supervising counselors; self-disclosure; and challenges in developing countries. 

This is a well-documented book with a lot of cases and research studies that back up the points that the various authors of the chapters make in it.