Revisions Inc., a Philadelphia consulting company, has started offering a mental health counseling service using email, and, in a new twist to online psychology, CU-See-Me video software.
Despite possible objections that CU-See-Me is often so slow it might be considered alienating, chief therapist Sam Gully believes the advantages outweigh the problems, if it is used in an appropriate manner. "I can't think of anything worse than being in the middle of a session and getting cut off. That's why we have plans for getting back in touch with the patient by email immediately," he says.
Revisions, which also offers money-making plans and gives advice on building Web sites for nonprofits, makes no pretense of offering psychotherapy. Rather, the service that Revisions hopes to give patients in their sessions - which cost US$25 for email and $35 for video - is a "well-placed word of advice" to help people heal themselves.
"What's being done on the Internet now is more educational and consultative, and less therapy, per se." says Leonard Holmes, a clinical psychologist who runs NetPsych, a resource for online mental health service. "I'm glad that someone's trying CU-See-Me. I'm just not so sure that it's really useful, yet." Holmes also points out that in general, it's a good idea for potential clients to look closely at the qualifications of therapists. Also, the legal issues involved with state-certified therapists working with people outside their state have yet to be resolved, he says.
Since its online service began in late January, Revisions' team of six counselors has conducted about 200 email sessions. So far only three people have taken up the offer to use CU-See-Me, which Revisions began offering last Monday.
