Reaching Out: Your Easy Guide to Finding Affordable Quality Online Therapy A Practitioner's Perspective

By Ellen Whyte and Alvin Ng Lai Oon

Reaching out for online mental health support but not sure where to start? Reaching Out is the guide for you!

 

Packed with useful information, and written in everyday English, Reaching Out will help you make informed decisions.

 

This short, easy text answers common questions such as:

• When is working online totally terrific and when should I avoid it?
• Should I look for a psychiatrist, psychologist, or some other mental health practitioner? What do all the titles mean anyway?
• How can I tell who's professional and who is out to scam me?
• How confidential are sessions?
• Do I need fancy software or can I just Zoom?
• How do I pick the right person to work with?

• Do culture and shared experience matter?

• What do I need to do to get the most out of therapy?

This practical guide is written by an academic and a practitioner, so you benefit from a wide perspective.

 

Dr Alvin Ng is a professor of psychology, the Founding President of the Malaysian Society of Clinical Psychology, and the author of journal articles and scientific publications.

 

Ellen Whyte is a Scottish-Dutch counselling psychologist in Malaysia. She has an international practice with clients based in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and North America.

 

As Alvin and Ellen take you through the basics, they also offer individual comments and insights.  Sometimes they disagree!

 

Finally, while Alvin and Ellen are based in Malaysia, they write for an international audience.  So, take advantage of global online therapy services, and read Reaching Out.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ellen Whyte
• Release date: Nov 29, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393501190

Ellen Whyte

Ellen Whyte married her best friend and moved to the tropics where they are living their own Happily Ever After. She believes writing is not so much a passion as an obsession. She writes sweet romance novels with strong women and very hunky men as Ellen Whyte. However, she’s better known for her Zeta Cartel series, Belial’s Disciples MC novels, and the other twisted stories of love, mayhem, and murder she writes as AJ Adams. When she’s not writing, she’s cooking and chatting to her rescue cats Target, Swooner and Tic Tac.  

Book preview

Preface: Who We Are and Why We’re Writing This Guide

Chapter One: Online Mental Health Services Facts and Figures

Snapshot of Mental Health in Malaysia

Online Practice Is a Need and an Opportunity

Chapter Two: Is Online Therapy for You? Eight Reasons to Sign Up and Four Reasons to Avoid It

Benefits of Online Mental Health Services

Four Reasons Online Therapy Is Not for You

Chapter Three: Understanding Mental Health Qualifications

Psychiatrist or Psychologist?

Which Should I Go For: Psychiatrist or the Other Kind?

What If I Need a Diagnosis?

I Know What's Wrong. Can I Medicate Myself?

A Note About Medication

Looking for a Psychologist or a Counsellor? Check for Qualifications That Include Supervised Practicums

Professional Associations

Chapter Four: Finding Your Match

Do Culture and Shared Experience Matter?

Directive or Non-Directive

Chapter Five: Voice, Text, or Video? And What Services Are the Best?

Pros and Cons of Video Streaming

Pros and Cons of Voice

Pros and Cons of Text

The Services

Skype

Messenger

WhatsApp

FaceTime

Google Meet

Zoom

Chapter Six: Signs of a Quality Mental Health Practitioner

Good Signs to Look for Before You Talk

Good Signs to Look for When You First Talk

More Good Signs

Chapter Seven: How to Spot Scammers

Warning Signs to Look for Before You Talk

When You Meet Them

Chapter Eight: How Secret Are Your Sessions? What You Need to Know About Confidentiality.

What Happens in Session, Stays in Session

Exception #1: If We're Pulled into Your Legal Issues

Exception #2: You Want Us to Talk to Someone

Exception #3: You Are Actively Suicidal

Exception #4: You Are Actively Dangerous to Others

Exception #5: You Are Actively Carrying Out a Serious Crime Like Murder or Child Abuse

A Note About Malaysian Laws

Chapter Nine: The Emergency Contact

Picking an Emergency Contact

If a Crisis Looms

Calling the Emergency Contact

Chapter Ten: Making the Most of Your Sessions

It's a Process

Don't Hold Back

Do Your Homework

Resist Self-Sabotage!

Don't Confuse Warmth for Friendship

Chapter Eleven: Some Thoughts on Good Practice

Thank You!

Contact Alvin

Contact Ellen

References

Preface: Who We Are and Why We’re Writing This Guide

Ellen Whyte is a Scottish-Dutch counselling psychologist in Malaysia. She worked as a content creator for more than twenty years, selling columns and features to clients in more than twelve countries. In 2013 she returned to her roots, topping up her original degree in psychology with a master’s in Counselling. She has worked online since 2016 and has an international practice with clients based in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and North America. She is a member of various associations, including the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy and the Malaysia Mental Health Organisation.

Dr Alvin Ng is a clinical psychologist by training, and at the time of writing, a professor of psychology at Sunway University, Malaysia. He was the Founding President of the Malaysian Society of Clinical Psychology, which he established in 2010. In 2017 he was the recipient of the EduCoop National Outstanding Educator (Psychology) Award in recognition of his contributions towards the development of psychology in Malaysia. He recently won the 2020 University of East Anglia Engagement Award for Group Achievement together with his collaborators from UEA, Prof Sian Coker and Dr Paul Fisher, for their work with Ministry of Health Malaysia and WHO in training health workers on mental health literacy.

We share a keen interest in helping to demystify and destigmatise mental health issues in the community. We wrote this consumer how-to guide to discuss how online mental health services work, with notes on relevant personal experiences, so that you can make informed decisions.

Our focus is on practice in Malaysia because that is where we