Online Counseling in the Next Normal

This article is delivered to the readers with three important objectives: (1) to enhance understanding of online counseling in terms of meaning, historical background, categories and components ; (2) to present the advantages and limitations of online counseling, and (3) to inform readers of the results of recent online counseling research studies in order to shed light on trends or directions of current and future research in this stream of social, economic, political, catastrophic volatilityand COVID-19 pandemic. The authors synthesized the body of knowledge from books, textbooks, documents and relevant research integrating with personal experiences in conducting online counseling research. At the beginning of this article, the authors present important content of online counseling. More information on advantages and limitations of online counseling are detailed at the middle of the article. In the final part, the authors show an example of online counseling research to guide readers including psychologists, mental health providers, and psychiatric practitioners with information for further personal improvement in order to gain readiness for online services. This article will also be beneficial to individuals with stress and anxiety who are seeking initial help. They can use this primary information to aid the decision for obtaining online psychological services to alleviate mental health issues and continue further treatment process in a medical care unit.