ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines both the theoretical and practical aspects of online therapy and consultation. It argues that “an online environment may require a greater investment of time and energy to create and maintain a psychic space that supports learning through experience”. The book suggests that the fact that patients online are responsible to taking care of their needs encourages more self-reliance and conveys the message of trusting the patients’ inner resources. Most therapists ignore not only the fact that they do not control the setting and cannot create the conditions of the safe environment, but many other subtle events and incidents occurring online that they would never ignore when it is in-presence therapy. Group therapy is clearly less expensive and effective, however, group therapists know the technical and practical difficulty of bringing a group of people together in one place at a time.
