Sit, breathe, write

Email counselling is a convenient alternative to face-to-face sessions.  While still structured with an agreement about when emails need to be sent and will be responded to, this form of counselling allows you to take time to consider what issues you wish to share and how you wish to word information.

There is no right or wrong way to write a counselling email.  You could write your email in 20 minutes and send, revisit it several times over several days, or maybe jot down your thoughts and feelings as the week goes by and tidy them up just before sending it. You can write 100 words; you can write 1000 words. It is up to you.

If you are not confident in speaking to someone you have not met, email counselling has a sense of anonymity, you will not have to face the person who is reading the email and will still be able to explore difficult or challenging situations in your life.

Email counselling offers you the space and time to organise your thoughts, to get information in an order that you are happy with before someone else sees what you have written.

Writing down what is going on for you gives you the opportunity to revisit this later, in the style of keeping a diary, you will be able to track the progress you are making or considering the comments of your counsellor at your leisure.

We have two options regarding how to ensure your email counselling has the same level of privacy as any other form.  

• We can communicate through Protonmail which is a fully encrypted email service.  You will need to create a free account here, you will need to create a new email address.  Our exchange will remain on your account until you delete it.  You will be able to forward or copy these emails.

• If you have a Gmail account, we can communicate using the confidential mode.  You will not need to create a new email address and emails will be set to delete after 4 weeks.

• I can send you a password-protected Word or Google document to your regular email address.  We will agree on the password prior to beginning our sessions.  You will not need to create a new email address and can keep copies of all our interactions as long as you wish.  

Your security is my priority and, unfortunately, email counselling may not be suitable for you if you do not have a private space where you live that gives you the freedom to write your email or store your emails and my replies.  All emails will be sent through Egress, which is a free, online encryption service that you will have to create an account with.

It is important to note that ‘online’ counselling is different to face-to-face sessions.  Misunderstandings may occur when we are not able to see and interpret usual facial expressions or if we mishear a tone of voice. It is important we feel comfortable asking for clarification if we are unsure of something we hear or the way something has been presented to us.

How does email counselling work?

• This form of counselling takes place in a delayed time

• Payment will be required a minimum of 1 hour prior to your agreed ‘session’

• You will send me your email by an agreed time on an agreed day

• I will read and respond to your email for 1 hour and return an email by an agreed time on an agreed day

• You have a maximum word limit of 1500 words, and you should bear in mind the more I have to read, the less time I have to focus on my response

• As a person-centred counsellor, I will work with whatever you bring to the session that day.  Your counselling goals are a plan for the sessions, not the only focus.

Advantages of Email Counselling

• Email counselling is convenient and does not require you to work out travel time

• You can choose to keep a permanent record of your counselling conversation 

Disadvantages of Face-to-Face Counselling

• You need to ensure you are in a private space and not distracted

• You need to ensure you delete or keep our conversation safe after

Please Note: Happy Hatching Mind is not an emergency service if you are having a mental health crisis.  Please go to In An Emergency for crisis support.