People in California have started to pick up the pieces after the devastating wildfire affected their lives recently. It started as a campfire and gradually become the deadliest wildfire in the history of the state. It would not be wrong to suggest that the Californian wildfire became the deadliest and twice as fatal as any other fire incident in the recent past. The fire has been deemed as the most destructive one, based on the actual number of structures it has destroyed.
People have been looking forward to recovering from the damage caused by the California wildfire. However, not all would be as strong to forget the past and move on easily. Despite the fire and health services doing their best to help the fire victims establish themselves again, it would definitely leave a soar memory for the fire victims. It would be difficult to shove out of mind for a significant length of time.
Do you wonder who therapists are? They would be best described as practitioners providing your mental health care. There have been several different types of therapists available online. It would not be wrong to suggest that psychotherapists would assist people with mental problems, dealing with various kinds of family and marriage concerns, or other kinds of challenges that you would encounter in life.
In case you had depression, the online counselor could help them get back on schedule. They would also help you manage the various depressive episodes undergone recently. Counselors or therapists could help couples with marriage issues, high school kids with an identity crisis, and more.
The online counselor would communicate with you remotely via the online realm. He or she would be providing online therapy services. You could communicate with them through your tablet, computer, Smartphone, and other available devices that could be connected online.
However, several agencies have offered help to wildfire victims physically, financially, and mentally. When it comes to counseling, you should rest assured that having peace of mind after witnessing the wrath of both natural disasters and man’s negligence could not be easy for most people. Therefore, it would be in your best interest to undergoing counseling from licensed therapists in the region.
Free online counseling for fire victims
What is online counseling? You may wonder at times. From a wide and broader perspective, online counseling would be best described as professional assistance to those looking forward to making the most of counseling for mental health issues through the internet. It could also be referred to as cyber counseling, cyberlearning, counseling webinars, email counseling, e-walk-in counseling, and online communication with a professional academic counselor.
How are the services offered?
When it comes to offering online counseling, the aforementioned services would be offered in the following ways:
- Chat room assistance
- Message boards
- Live Calls
- Telephone
- Online Chat
- Video conferencing
- Text messaging
- Voice
A majority of counselors and people affected by the California wildfire have started making the most of the online counseling system along with the traditional one. It has been done to better the patients or mentally stressed people at a relatively quick pace. The professional and licensed segment of people considers it a complete replacement for making visits to the traditional counselor office.
What could be done for California fire victims?
You may often inquire about the different ways of helping the California fire victims. However, beyond the physical requirements, inclusive of food, safety, and water, the people would require the emotional need to live through the experience of threatening their life. It would be pertinent to address the emotional requirements of the people in the best manner possible.
The trauma suffered by the fire accident victims along with their families would be a horrid experience. You may not be able to feel the pain they undergo but could certainly lend a helping hand to ease the pain. It would help if you rested assured that it would be an endeavor to overcome the grief, pain, and stress for both the victim and family.
It would be in their best interest to be offered a free online counseling service as a mode to reach out to people with stress. Online counseling would be the best for people living under stress due to fire-related tragedy. It would not be wrong to suggest that the process of accepting, recognizing, and dealing with such an experience would be relatively difficult and a painful one. However, with the counselor’s assistance, the patients would be less alone and looking forward to overcoming the trauma.
What makes online therapy popular than traditional therapy?
Online therapy has become relatively popular despite being a new concept. It would be easy to determine its increasing popularity through the several benefits offered by online counseling.
- People with disabilities
People with disabilities such as the inability to walk would find it hard to commute to the counselor’s office. Moreover, people who would fear going outdoors could also benefit from the online counseling service.
- Transportation and location problems
People living far away from the establishment or find it harder to commute could make the most of the online counseling services.
- Trouble communicating
In case you were having considerable trouble communicating, cannot talk at all, or having a significant problem talking face-to-face to strangers could make the most of online counseling service. It will help if you rest assured that online therapy would ease the various kinds of communication problems. They would make you feel more comfortable.
- Plan your own schedule
Online counseling would help you plan your own schedule with the desired counselor. The online counselor has been made available round the clock at your service. On the other hand, traditional therapy would be relatively difficult for people to fit into your schedule, especially if you have a hectic life. Any person suffering a major disaster would not have adequate time at their hands to plan according to the schedule given by the therapist. They would look forward to getting their life on track while seeing therapy suitable to their schedule.
- Privacy
When seeking an online counseling service, you should rest assured to bump into someone, as you would when visiting a land-based counselor office. Online counseling would offer you the adequate privacy that you need for therapy.
The biggest benefit of online counseling would be several counselors working from home and not requiring a separate office. It would prove beneficial for patients as well, for they have the option to receive counseling for their specific problems right from the convenience of their respective homes.
Different ways of talking to an online counselor
Find below the various ways of communicating with the online counselor.
- Texting
By using online counseling, you could message the counselor using an instant text message. It would be pertinent to mention here that instant messaging has been relatively quick and would help you quickly seek requisite advice. However, you would be constrained by the space provided when using instant message service. It is a great way of seeking instant relief online.
- Emailing
It would enable your counselor to cater you a detailed message. The counselor would be able to formulate a detailed response. However, it may not allow your body language and voice tone to be deemed essential for a traditional counseling session.
- Voice chat
When using a mobile phone or application, you would be able to communicate verbally to the therapist. It would help you express your concerns through tone and emotions but without body language.
Video chatting has been deemed perfect when searching for an experience similar to visiting a traditional therapist. Your body language would be visible to the counselor, and your tone easily heard.
Will it Work for You?
The working of online counseling has been dependent on your ability to seek assistance and work with the counselor. You should feel comfortable using various technology types and communicating with a stranger about your feelings, concerns, and thoughts. Online counseling would be a good option for people having trouble attending face-to-face appointments.
If you have a hectic schedule, it will prove to be a great choice suitable to your specific needs. It would help if you committed to working with a counselor for a significant length of time. However, it would help if you rested assured that it is not a short-term solution to your issues and problems.
When do you need online counseling?
On Whereat one hand, online sessions with the counselor have proved to be effective for most patients; most people would search for a traditional therapist. However, it would help if you rest assured that most people would suffer from time management issues. They would assume about starting a session late and leaving early. Nonetheless, some counselors would need you to commit yourself to the same time slot or counseling session in the coming weeks.
People having serious emotional problems may deem themselves to be better off with traditional counselors as well. However, that should not be entirely true, as online counseling has also gained popularity in the arena. Despite being new to the arena, it has given good results in a majority of cases.
Flexibility is the main asset.
Online counselors would cater to the patients with flexibility in making appointments and using various online methods to communicate with the counselor. It would help them express their feelings and seek emotional support right from the convenience of their homes. It would work best when you require a small amount of assistance and feel comfortable communicating online and through videos. However, its effectiveness with all patients is yet to be determined completely.
How would online counseling help you recover?
Wildfire could lead to considerable emotional distress while dealing with various physical injuries. When you lose your home to a wildfire, you should rest assured to undergo the trauma of losing your residence, things of value, important documents, and treasured memories.
Your home would be a place of comfort, safety, and security. Losing your home to fire would also make you lose the sense of security. It would disrupt your normal life largely. You would experience various kinds of emotions. You can also sign up for the online free counseling, and you can find below how online counseling could help you make the most of recovering from the trauma.
- Allow you to release the negative emotions healthily.
- Provide proven stress-reduction strategies and techniques inclusive of mediation, regular exercises, and deep breathing exercises.
- It helps you make small decisions daily to gain control of your life.
- It enables you to feel good and make the most of the time despite dealing with the loss.
- Lower your expectations of what is to be done after the disaster.
- It helps you not to isolate yourself and spend time with people for a healthy and speedy recovery.
- Cater you with the benefits of community support.
- It helps you talk about the trauma with family, friends, and close ones.
- It helps you focus on being thankful for what you have rather than what you have lost.
- It helps you put off major life decisions.
- It helps you get plenty of rest and maintaining a normal sleeping routine.
- Consuming a decently balanced life.
- It helps you stay away from mood-enhancing substances, inclusive of drugs and alcohol.
Counseling help for children
It would help if you rested assured that children and adolescents would react differently to different scenarios. However, when dealing with fire tragedy, children and adolescents would experience nightmares, sleep disorders, and anxiety. The child’s ability to cope with such a situation would depend on how their parents would be dealing with the crisis at hand.
Children would look forward to guidance from adults. They would look for support and requisite information from parents and counselors. It would be imperative to work to successfully cope with becoming a positive role model for the children. The counselors would be open to children to share their thoughts, ideas, and concerns. They would encourage the children to return to normal routines inclusive of playtime.
