I was at a recent conference and someone asked me about online counseling. I told them that it is often called telemedicine or telehealth and refers to the use of digital data and telecommunications technology and may be used to carry out long-distance clinical healthcare via audio/videoconferencing, the internet, and media streaming. With behavioral health (which includes my specialty of counseling), we can address some mild diagnoses that are increasing more treatable through various mobile devices, which may include asynchronous texting as well as synchronous audio and video meetings that may be accomplished through secure/encrypted means that are HIPAA compliant. While the terms telemedicine and telehealth are sometimes used interchangeably, the former refers specifically to clinical services offered remotely, whereas the latter covers a much wider gamut of services. This difference is important for regulatory and legal purposes because some states may have telemedicine laws, but not telehealth ones.
Please contact me if you want to know more about this and/or schedule a face to face or distance meeting.