Psychological Analysis of Online Counselling Platforms Offering Mental Health Support

Over the years, the domain of psychological therapy and counselling has significantly expanded and established different forums to provide mental health services. The use of virtual therapy for providing mental support to individuals has drastically increased by professionals over the internet through emails, chatting over voice, audio platforms or chat rooms. The world was exposed to certain triggers initiated due to the unprecedented crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, yet therapy applications have helped alleviate mental health challenges and maximize benefits towards the psychological wellbeing of the society. However, evaluation of its efficiency in actually helping people during a crisis is important. The present study aims to (a) Evaluate online counselling services and its effectiveness in providing the necessary emotional support during the pandemic and (b) Understand perspective of trained experts and members on e-therapy platforms. Initially, the study carefully reviewed existing literature on virtual therapy. An online survey was designed to garner the opinions of over 100 mental health professionals about online counselling services. The results reported, about 72% of the experts would consider shifting to virtual platforms during difficult situations for their clients. This paper is particularly useful for mental health professionals evaluating the shift to online platforms for their clients. In the future, researchers could develop technology to enhance the process of e-therapy for the clients and the experts.