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Online markets for mental health care (OMMH) allow clients to connect remotely with counselors to receive psychological therapy. Rooted in signaling theory and in the specific context of an OMMH, we theorize relative credibility of signals as the boundary condition that determines whether the demonstration signal of responsiveness to client questions substitutes or complements the two description signals of professional qualifications and counseling style in predicting market demand for counselors from new clients in an OMMH. Based on a panel dataset of 823 observations from 309 counselors participating on YiXinLi, a leading OMMH in China, we tested our hypotheses using linguistic and sentiment analysis methods and zero-inflated negative binomial models. We found broad support for nine out of ten hypotheses. Findings are robust with respect to different measures of variables, potential endogeneity from the simultaneity of responsiveness and counselor demand, and potential selection bias from both observable and endogenous covariates. Our study extends the literature on signaling in online markets in the unique context of OMMH by showing that: (1) relative credibility of signals is the boundary condition that determines when a demonstration signal will complement and when it will substitute for a description signal, (2) previous clients’ feedback on counselors’ empathy and warmth was deemed not credible by new clients in the context of online counseling, and (3) responsiveness to client questions is the most influential predictor of market demand from new clients in an OMMH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internet counseling can be a valuable resource for people who cannot seek mental health care due to various reasons. The aim of this study was to analyze the time patterns of first-time contacts made by clients to online counseling services. Data from two online counseling service providers, encompassing 3,291 people, were analyzed. The results showed that people tended to contact online counselors during the seasons with less sunlight (winter and autumn), and during evening and afternoon. There were no pronounced day-of-week effects. These results support, to some extent, the seasonality and time-of-day patterns related to mental disorders and help-seeking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The availability and accessibility of the Internet have changed the way people run their lives. Communication through social networking has brought to life the power of groups and introduced new opportunities for the facilitation of online group counseling. Women in the postpartum period are vulnerable to stress, and yet, although online group counseling has been proven to improve their overall well-being, they tend to avoid reaching out for help. This review aims to shed light on the issue and calls for further research on the new therapeutic discipline created under the radar and its alteration into an on-hand valid tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Telemental health--also known as online counseling or online therapy--has become a solution for increasing the public's access to mental health care. Mental health state licensure boards have lacked consistency in the adaptation of laws and the use of language within these laws. Policies are examined from the mental health state licensure boards in all 50 U.S. states for counselors, psychologists, marriage and family therapists and social workers. The determination of whether a policy existed was made. If so, the terminology was compared across professions. Results indicated that fewer than half of mental health licensure boards included telemental health-related terminology in their policies, indicating the absence of telemental health policies. Future research, implications for counselors and limitations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The worldwide penetration of the Internet and its related technologies, the rapid developments of new technologies and the pervasive use of technology in people's lives, are indicators that we live in a technological age. New technologies and their potential for use in psychological interventions and mental health services have not gone unnoticed. The last 15 years or so have witnessed the employment of new technologies in developing and delivering a variety of psychological interventions, these include information WebPages, internet-based computer programs that are addressed to treatment of specific problems, the use of mobile phones and games to help psychological practice, among others. However, while a broad range of technology- delivered psychological interventions have demonstrated success in high-income countries, little is known of their potential for countries such as Colombia. The paper begins with a brief history, followed by an overview of the field of technology-delivered psychological interventions. Lastly, the paper seeks to present a justification for the potential use of technology-delivered psychological interventions in Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there are widely accepted and utilized models and frameworks for nondirective counseling (NDC), there is little in the way of tools or instruments designed to assist in determining whether or not a specific episode of counseling is consistent with the stated model or framework. The Counseling Progress and Depth Rating Instrument (CPDRI) was developed to evaluate counselor integrity in the use of Egan's skilled helper model in online counseling. The instrument was found to have sound internal consistency, good interrater reliability, and good face and convergent validity. The CPDRI is, therefore, proposed as a useful tool to facilitate investigation of the degree to which counselors adhere to and apply a widely used approach to NDC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• For hidden youth, online counseling achieves better outcomes than the offline one. • For hidden youth, integrated counseling achieves the best service outcomes. • Online counseling and offline counseling have unique, complementary advantages. The emergence of the Internet has given rise to the continuous development of online counseling since the 1970s. Despite the increasing popularity of online counseling in the globe currently, whether the advantages of online counseling surpasses that of offline counseling is still in controversy. Against this backdrop, this study seeks to compare between online, offline, and integrated counseling (i.e., the combined use of online and offline counseling) in therapeutic outcomes, so as to shed light on the significance of largely developing online counseling in youth contexts in Hong Kong. Targeting 502 hidden youth in Hong Kong who were aged 12–24 as participants, this study adopted a mixed method in doing the comparative analysis of service outcomes in terms of quality of life and sense of well-being. Quantitative results showed that integrated counseling was perceived as achieving the best outcomes among all the three forms of counseling, while online counseling was better than offline counseling. Explained by qualitative analyses, online and offline counseling had their unique advantages which were complementary to each other: While online counseling dealt with individual, psychological issues more effectively, offline counseling helped provide more substantial support in terms of real-time company and tangible resources. The implication is that online counseling has a potential value to be extensively developed in Hong Kong, either as an alternative to offline counseling or being integrated with offline counseling to maximize the service outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]