Counseling seems like one of those activities that requires face-to-face contact in order for the counselor to properly gauge the non-verbal signals given off by the patient.  Alas, new research from the University of Copenhagen suggests that there may be times when text-based counseling can be effective also.

The study highlighted how important things such as the duration of the session, the length of the counselor’s messages, and the speed of response time can all play a major part in the success of the session.  As such, despite the lack of face-to-face interaction, these sessions can still be successful providing the above are taken into account.

The key is for responses to not only be prompt, but long, dense and expressive, with the overall length of the session more important than the number of messages.  The text-based sessions achieved a positive impact both immediately after them, and a further two weeks later.  Clients responded that they felt like they had been heard, and reported feeling more empowered and with enhanced wellbeing.

“The latest statistics indicate that 24 million children and young people reach out to helplines. By offering access through different modalities, including chat and text, individuals can now choose to discuss their emotions using the technology with which they feel most comfortable,” the authors say.

Virtual support

A report from a few years ago agreed that such services can be valuable, and even believes that AI-based services can be useful.  It suggests that having an AI based counselor could help to overcome some of the challenges people face in opening up to another person about their problems.  What’s more, access to services is not always easy, so virtual conversational agents provide an accessible means of getting some support.

Suffice to say, the authors admit that such services are not, and probably never will replace human mental health professionals, but they can help to fill gaps in service provision that do inevitably exist.  This is especially so in public health systems where supply struggles to match demand.

There are also risks attached with such services, especially if they are the first time an individual has sought mental health support.  A bad experience may well put them off seeking help from any other source in future.  It’s also important that people understand that such services are not a substitute for human-to-human connections.  Keeping a balance is key.