Abstract

It is common knowledge that face-to-face counselling is practiced in every country. Conversely, e-counselling is offered in many countries even though some experts disagree with its effectiveness and ethicality. The study, thus, purposed to gain a deeper understanding of students’ values and challenges of face-to-face and e-counselling in Ghanaian universities. Therefore, a cross-sectional survey design was adopted. A standardized instrument: Online and Face-to-face Counselling Attitudes Scales, and a Satisfaction Questionnaire were adapted for the data collection. T-test and multiple linear regression were used to analyse data set from 384 students. Findings revealed that although technological devices are largely accessible, students value face-to-face counselling than e-counselling. However, their inclination to e-counselling cannot be overlooked. Also, there was no significant difference in students’ values to e-counselling for gender. Again, the male students value face-to-face counselling more as compared to female students. The multiple regression revealed that values of face-to-face and e-counselling predicated satisfaction to face-to-face and e-counselling respectively. It is recommended that university counselling practitioners should enhance the use of face-to-face counselling and train in e-counselling so that students will be offered options in counselling services.

Keywords

References

• Ahmad, Z., Nasir, R., & Yusooff, F. (2010). Perceptions towards online counseling among counselors in Malaysia. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 5(2), 585–589. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.07.146
• Ajagbawa, Henry. O., & Associates. (2014). The role of ethics in career counselling in the 21st Century. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 19(5), 12–22. https://doi.org/10.9790/0837-19551222
• American Psychological Association. (1979). Standards for providers of psychological services. In C. A. Kiesler, N. A. Cummings, & G. R. VandenBos (Eds.), Psychology and national health insurance: A sourcebook (pp. 347–359). https://doi.org/10.1037/10070-037
• Amos, P. M., Bedu-Addo, P. K. A., & Antwi, T. (2020). Experiences of online counseling among undergraduates in some Ghanaian universities. SAGE Open, 10(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020941844
• Awabil, G., & Akosah, A. (2018). Attitude of Ghanaian university students towards online counselling attitude of Ghanaian university students towards online counselling. Journal of Education and Practice, 9(July), 10–16.
• Bacıoğlu, S. D., & Kocabıyık, O. O. (2019). Counseling trainees’ views towards usage of online counseling in psychological services. European Journal of Education Studies, 5(12), 46–60. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2597546
• Barak, A., & Grohol, J. M. (2011). Current and future trends in internet-supported mental health interventions. Journal of Technology in Human Services, 29(3), 155–196. https://doi.org/10.1080/15228835.2011.616939
• Barnett, J. E. (2005). Online counseling: New entity, new challenges. The Counseling Psychologist, 33(6), 872–880. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000005279961
• Bedu-Addo, P. K. A. (2016). Guidance and counselling “unmasked” (4th ed.). Approacher’s Ghana Limited.
• Bernstein, D. A., Nash, P. W., Penner, L. A., Clarke-Stewart, A., & Roy, E. J. (2008). Essentials of psychology. Houghton Mifflin Company.
• Bloom, J. W. (1998). The ethical practice of web counseling. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 26(1), 53–59.
• Buku, D. K. (2016). Foundations of guidance and counselling. Benjoy Enterprise.
• Burnham-Smith, D. (1996). Counseling men: the effects of gender role. ED 398517. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED398517.pdf
• Canadian Psychological Association. (2017). Canadian code of ethics for psychologists (4th ed.). Canadian Psychological Association.
• Charles, J. (2019). Face to face counselling. http://www.counsellingsolutions.co.uk/pages/facetofacecounselling.htm
• Chester, A., & Glass, C. A. (2006). Online counselling: A descriptive analysis of therapy services on the Internet. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 34(2), 145–160. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069880600583170
• Chiboola, H. (2019). Theoretical perspective of traditional counselling. Counseling and Therapy, 6(5), 8–19.
• Cipolletta, S., & Mocellin, D. (2016). Online counseling: An exploratory survey of Italian psychologists’ attitudes towards new ways of interaction. Psychotherapy Research, 28(6), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2016.1259533
• Cook, J. E., & Doyle, C. (2002). Working alliance in online therapy as compared to face-to-face therapy: preliminary results. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 5(2), 95–105. https://doi.org/10.1089/109493102753770480
• Coolican, H. (2014). Research methods and statistics in psychology (6th ed.). Psychology Press.
• Corey, G. (1977). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy. Brooks/Cole. https://doi.org/10.2307/583738
• Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage.
• Reynolds, D’Arcy J., Stiles, W. B., & Hanley, T. (2016). The online calming effect: Does the internet provide a more comfortable modality for conducting psychotherapy? In G. Riva, B. K. Wiederhold & P. Cipresso (Eds.), The Psychology of Social Networking (Vol 2, pp. 17-28). De Gruyter Open Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110473858-004
• Dowling, M. J. (2015). The processes and effectiveness of online counselling and therapy for young people. University of Canberra.
• Dowling, M. J., & Rickwood, D. J. (2014). Experiences of counsellors providing online chat counselling to young people. Australian Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 24(2), 183–196. https://doi.org/10.1017/jgc.2013.28
• Dowling, M., & Rickwood, D. (2015). A naturalistic study of the effects of synchronous online chat counselling on young people’s psychological distress, life satisfaction and hope. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 15(4), 274–283. https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12037
• Dowuona, S. (2016). Mobile voice penetration reaches 127%, data crosses 65%. https://www.modernghana.com/news/678955/mobile-voice-penetration-reaches-127-data-crosses-65.html
• Gibson, R. L., & Mitchel, M. H. C. (1995). Introduction to counselling and guidance. Prentice-Hall.
• Glasheen, K. J., Shochet, I., & Campbell, M. A. (2016). Online counselling in secondary schools: would students seek help by this medium? British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 44(1), 108–122. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2015.1017805
• Griffiths, M., & Cooper, G. (2003). Online therapy : implications for problem gamblers and clinicians. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 31(1), 113-165. https://doi.org/10.1080/0306988031000086206
• Hanley, T. (2021). Researching online counselling and psychotherapy: The past, the present and the future. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 21(3), 493–497. https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12385
• Hanley, T., Ersahim, Z., Sefi, A., & Hebron, J. (2017). Comparing online and face-to-face student counselling: what therapeutic goals are identified and what are the implications for educational providers? Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools, 27(1), 37–54. https://doi.org/10.1017/jgc.2016.20
• Hanley, T., & Reynolds, D. A. J. (2009). Counselling Psychology and the internet : A review of the quantitative research into text-based therapy. Counselling Psychology Review, 24(2), 4–13.
• Hodges, S. (2016). The counseling practicum and internship manual: A resource for graduate counseling students (2nd ed.). Springer.
• Hoffman, L. (2017). Un Homme Manqué : Freud’s engagement with Alfred Adler’s masculine protest: Commentary on balsam. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 65(1), 99–108. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003065117690351
• Jerry, A., Jennifer, L. K., & Grace, J. (2014). Four hidden matriarchs of psychoanalysis: The relationship of Lou von Salome, Karen Horney, Sabina Spielrein and Anna Freud to Sigmund Freud. International Journal of Psychology and Counselling, 6(4), 32–39. https://doi.org/10.5897/ijpc2014.0250
• Kennedy, A. (2008). Plugged in, turned on, and wired up. Counseling Today, 51(2), 34–38.
• King, R., Bambling, M., Lloyd, C., Gomurra, R., Smith, S., Reid, W., & Wegner, K. (2006). Online counselling: The motives and experiences of young people who choose the Internet instead of face to face or telephone counselling. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 6(3), 169–174. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733140600848179
• Kolog, E. A., Sutinen, E., & Vanhalakka-Ruoho, M. (2014). E-counselling Implementation : Students’ life stories and counselling technologies in perspective. International Journal for Educational and Development Using Information and Communication Technology, 10(3), 32–48.
• Krejcie, R. V., & Morgan, D. W. (1970). Determining sample size for research activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 30, 607-610. https://doi.org/10.1177/001316447003000308
• Kupczynski, L., Garza, K., & Mundy, M.-A. (2017). Counselors’ perceptions of online and face to face counseling. The Online Journal of Counseling and Education, 6(1), 1–17.
• Leibert, T., & Archer Jr., J. (2006). An exploratory study of client perceptions of internet counseling and the therapeutic alliance. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 28(1), 69–83. https://doi.org/10.17744/mehc.28.1.f0h37djrw89nv6vb
• Lovejoy, T., Demireva, P., Grayson, J., & McNamara, J. (2009). Advancing the practice of online psychotherapy: An application of Rogers’ diffusion of innovations theory. Psychotherapy Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 46(1), 112–124. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015153
• Mallen, M. J., Day, S. X., & Green, M. A. (2003). Online versus face-to-face conversations: An examination of relational and discourse variables. Psychotherapy, 40(1–2), 155–163. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-3204.40.1-2.155
• Manhal-Baugus, M. (2001). Etherapy: Practical, ethical, and legal issues. Cyber- Psychology & Behavior, 4, 551–563. https://doi.org/doi:10.1089/109493101753235142
• Maples, M. F., & Han, S. (2008). Cybercounseling in the united states and South Korea: Implications for counseling college students of the millennial generation and the networked generation. Journal of Counselling and Development, 86(2), 178–183. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6678.2008.tb00495.x
• Murphy, L., Parnass, P., Mitchell, D. L., Hallett, R., Cayley, P., & Seagram, S. (2009). Client satisfaction and outcome comparisons of online and face-to-face counselling methods. British Journal of Social Work, 39(4), 627–640. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcp041
• Ntshuntshe, Z., Gqeba, N., & Gqeba, M. (2016). Verbal communication in counselling and therapy. In S. G. Taukeni (Ed.), Counseling and Therapy (pp. 13). Intechopen. http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.92316
• Nystul, M. S. (1993). The art and science of counseling and psychotherapy. Merrill.
• Ofori, R., & Dampson, G. D. (2011). Research methods and statistics using SPSS. Payless Publication.
• Oxford Brooks University. (2012). Evaluation of client’s satisfaction with the counselling service. Author.
• Parpelli, R. (2016). Non-Verbal Communication in Ghana. https://prezi.com/lkgj1lxvxpjp/non-verbal-communication-in-ghana/
• Psychology Society of South Africa. (2007). South African professional conduct guidelines in psychology. Author.
• Richards, D. (2009). Features and benefits of online counselling: Trinity college online mental health community. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 37(3), 231–242. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069880902956975
• Richards, D., & Viganó, N. (2013). Online counseling: a narrative and critical review of the literature. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69(9), 994–1011.
• Rochlen, A. B., Land, L. N., & Wong, Y. J. (2004). Male restrictive emotionality and evaluations of online versus face-to-face counseling. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 5(2), 190–200. https://doi.org/10.1037/1524-9220.5.2.190
• Rochlen, A. B., Zack, J. S., & Speyer, C. (2004). Online therapy: Review of relevant definitions, debates, and current empirical support. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 60(3), 269–283. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.10263
• Rochlen, A., Beretvas, S. N., & Zack, J. S. (2004). The online and face-to-face counseling attitudes scales: A validation study. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 37(2), 95–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481756.2004.11909753
• Rochlen, A., & O’Brien, K. (2002). Men’s reasons for and against seeking help for career-related concerns. The Journal of Men’s Studies, 11(1), 55–63. https://doi.org/10.3149/jms.1101.55
• Rodda, S. N., Lubman, D. I., Cheetham, A., Dowling, N. A., & Jackson, A. C. (2015). Single session web-based counselling: a thematic analysis of content from the perspective of the client. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 43(1), 117–130. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2014.938609
• Sacco, R. G. (2013). Re-envisaging the eight developmental stages of Erik Erikson: The Fibonacci life-chart method (FLCM). Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology, 3(1). 140-146. https://doi.org/10.5539/jedp.v3n1p140
• Salmona, M., Kaczynski, D., & Lieber, E. (2020). Qualitative and mixed methods data analysis using Dedoose : a practical approach for research across the social sciences. Sage.
• Shiller, I. (2009). Online counselling: A review of the literature (Issue April). East Metro Youth Services.
• Skinner, A. E. G., & Latchford, G. (2006). Attitudes to counselling via the Internet: A comparison between in-person counselling clients and Internet support group users. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 6(3), 158–163. https://doi.org/10.1080/14733140600853641
• Sosialita, T. D. (2019). Online counseling to improve mental health among midwives. Proyeksi, 14(2), 94–103.
• Stiles-Shields, C., Kwasny, M. J., Cai, X., & Mohr, D. C. (2014). Therapeutic alliance in face-to-face and telephone-administered cognitive behavioral therapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 82(2), 349–354. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035554
• Suler, J. (2004). The online disinhibition effect. Cyberpsychology and Behavior, 7(3), 321–326. https://doi.org/10.1089/1094931041291295
• Tannous, A. (2017). Perceptions towards online counseling among University of Jordan students. Modern and Applied Science, 11(12). https://doi.org/10.5539/mas.v11n12p68
• Taylor, A. I. &, & Buku, Daniel. K. (2003). Basics in guidance and counselling. Department of Psychology and Education,UEW.
• University of Cape Coast. (2017). Counselling centre. Author.
• Uzoekwe, H. E., Obika, J. A., & Obineli, A. (2012). Incooperating e-counselling in the professional development of counselling practice: Merits and demerits. An International Journal of Arts and Humanities, 1(1), 227–238.
• Wong, K. P., Bonn, G., Tam, C. L., & Wong, C. P. (2018). Preferences for online and/or face-to-face counseling among university students in Malaysia. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00064
• Wong, Y. J., & Rochlen, A. B. (2005). Demystifying men’s emotional behavior: New directions and implications for counseling and research. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 6(1), 62–72. https://doi.org/10.1037/1524-9220.6.1.62
• Young, K. S. (2005). An empirical examination of client attitudes towards online counseling. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 8(2), 172–177. https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2005.8.172
• Zainudin, Z. N., & Yusop, Y. M. (2018). Client’s satisfaction in face-to-face counselling and cyber counseling approaches: A comparison. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(3), 677–684. https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v8-i3/3992
• Zeren, Ş. G. (2015). Face-to-face and online counseling: Client problems and satisfaction. Education and Science, 40(182), 127–141. https://doi.org/10.15390/EB.2015.4696

License

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.