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What is Online Counseling?
Phone Counseling
Face-to-face Skype Video
Expert Advice
Confidentiality
Who uses Internet Counseling?
What to expect?
Email Consultations
Personal Benefits
Personal Growth Programs
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We have combined technology
with the therapeutic task of achieving Serenity by offering Online Counseling.
 Our online therapy services are comprehensive. We cover a broad spectrum of issues - just a few include anxiety, depression, bipolar, relationship and marriage, family, premarriage, addiction and substance abuse and more.
We are available to help you through any of the following services:
Or you can call us to schedule an appointment in our offices.
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Sigmund Freud used letters to augment and continue therapy with his patients who were at a distance, so it's not really a new concept. Counseling over the internet has been increasingly accepted as the newest addition to the forms of therapeutic communication used by clients and counselors. In point of fact, since 1997 the internet has become a necessary tool to find services and products needed.
We have discovered that clients are becoming more accustomed to using the Internet, and are discovering the disinhibiting quality of online communication, which has led to the incorporation of these tools into the therapeutic relationships with our clients. These tools have allowed internet counseling to gain increased visibility and wider acceptance.
Like hundreds of therapists around the world we would like to offer services that include individual and group sessions through email support, as well as chat sessions(asynchronous real time typing to one another), video conferencing, using a camera to augment the typing and/or voice chat.
In addition to online services and telephone consultations, we offer the more traditional face to face counseling in our offices. We utilize these "adjunct services," in the same way as telephone conversations, intended to communicate with clients between sessions, or to keep in touch when a client has moved or is traveling.
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Our physical office is located in Sturgis SD, the home of the famous Motor Cycle Rally. You can call us from anywhere within the continental United States for an online session. You simply go to our home page and sign up for a phone counseling session. Someone from Serenity Mental Health Services will contact you within 24-48 hours during the business week to confirm your appointment.
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 Individual and Group counseling is available for Adults, Adolescents, and Families, during the day and evening hours in our office for face-to-face counseling and for Adults online by appointment only.
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Professionals at Serenity Mental Health.com provide online counseling; consulting, information and referrals just like you receive in their physical office. Issues that we address in our office can also be effectively and confidently addressed for brief concerns or the more traditional long-term support and therapy through online services. However, online therapy services are not intended to take the place of traditional face-to-face therapy, conventional clinical assessment, or treatment. Yet those who have had both office and online therapy experience, relate that it is virtually the same, in the work they are able to accomplish, and that they recognize the advantages of convenience and cost savings.
In a crisis please call "911" for assistance!
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Confidentiality is a requirement both ethically and legally for therapists. Security is a high priority and most internet companies have protections set up to insure confidentiality for their customers. This is also true of most email services. It has been found that the biggest danger of a lack of confidentially occurs when someone in your home reads your emails. This can be addressed by using a free alternate email site for counseling issues.
Unfortunately many people who really need and want help have additional fears that stop them from seeking help. Some are concerned that their private matters will become part of a national medical data base. Well there is no need to worry about that with online therapy. Online counseling is ultra-private to your friends, business associates and even to your insurance company. Online counseling is a private experience, as well it should be. No one ever has to know except you and our staff.
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Counseling over the internet can provide an option for people who may not access services in the more traditional face to face therapy that is offered in our office. It is not uncommon for first time users of counseling services, to have never been to traditional therapy. It could be their first attempt at getting help from a professional. Issues such as no treatment offered in their area or possibly a stigma attached to the thought of going to a counselor or a busy schedule that does not allow for the time it would take to schedule and go into our office can be overcome by the convenience and privacy that online counseling offers.
The most common reason for inaccessibility is stigma; many people are too embarrassed to make in-person contact with a psychotherapist. Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General (Department of Health and Human Services, 1999) revealed that nearly two-thirds of people who need mental health care never get it and cited stigma as a primary reason. Fortunately, the internet feels more private and this appears to provide clients the ability to get past the barrier of stigma to seek the help they need. |
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Today counseling over the internet can vary between a few brief consultation emails about a specific issue, to more extensive work to change patterns of behavior or thinking. Services that are currently available include: using e-mail (regular or encrypted), real-time chat, secure web-based messaging, videoconferencing, and voice-over-IP (Internet phone).
We have to admit, nothing beats a face-to-face therapy session, but the convenience and availability of professional online therapy is here right now. As people get comfortable typing or speaking on the phone, they report that they are able to talk to the therapist as openly and spontaneously as they did in the face to face therapy. Research has made it clear that this manner of offering therapy is effective and those who've experienced it have said they would seek it out again.
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In spite of the fact that Phone counseling is growing at an amazing rate, most people begin their online counseling via email. This is due in part to the fact that if you have the capacity to send and receive email, you can begin online counseling within 24 hours during the business hours of the work week. The simplicity of email and the quick access makes email counseling the most popular form of online communication. Email allows you the opportunity to craft just the right question prior to sending it to us for help.
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Phone sessions are 45 minutes in length. We strive to be focused upon you and your needs so we encourage you to always come to calls prepared. Some things to think about prior to the session include noting how you are feeling and making sure that you have your writing supplies handy to take plenty of notes for each session.
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For those of you who live outside the USA, but would still like to talk live, we use Skype. Skype is a free program that allows you to download it by going to www.skype.com. All that is required to use it is a PC and a PC headset which allows anyone to make free PC to PC calls. It has been noted that the quality is the same and in some cases even better than a regular phone. In point of fact, it is essentially the same as an Instant Messenger program such as MSN Messenger or AIM, or Yahoo Instant Messenger.
For those of you who have never used Skype before it is very easy to use. In fact, it is possible to download it, install it and be up and talking in just a few minutes. The benefit to this form of online counseling is that it can facilitate the development of the therapeutic relationship much quicker because it brings the personal voice into the therapy experience. Click here for instructions on how to download Skyped now.
We understand that you are hurting and that it takes great courage to reach out for help. The good news is that you do not have to wait another minute. Make the call or at least send an email to begin the process of relief that you deserve. Remember, you are not alone, in spite of awesome coping skills ordinary people such as yourself find that they need help overcoming an obstacle from time to time.
Phone counseling has many benefits, for example, do you want to wait standard two or more weeks to get an appointment when you are in pain? With phone counseling you can begin the process now by clicking the button. This makes Phone Counseling fast and accessible as you face your problems.
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You're here for help, DON’T WAIT ANY LONGER. Online counseling can help you begin the process to recovery. Click on the link below and choose the method of online therapy that best suits your needs. START THE JOURNEY TOWARD RECOVERY NOW. You will soon be a true believer in the benefits of online counseling. We look forward to joining you on this part of your life's journey and we're confident you will be feeling better very soon. Begin by CLICKING ON A LINK BELOW.
Contact us now via email at
dianasmith@serenitymentalhealth.com
or
Call 605-347-7560
or toll free at 1-888-347-7560
to schedule your appointment |
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Your healing journey toward serenity begins with the first step. |
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It is comforting to have someone who knows your history so that you feel understood, accepted and empowered to overcome your obstacles in times of increased stress. The internet allows you to have access to your counselor from anywhere you can access online services.
This translates into renewed . |
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This new strength will provide you with the ability to new ideas and gain new insights. As you gain these new insights you can take comfort in the fact that with e-mail and instant messenger you have a written record of your session so you can review your session at a later time. |
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As you learn to think outside the box you will gain a better understanding ofthe secret to the of serenity. |
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Congratulations for taking the first step. With the help of Serenity Mental Health Services, you will build what seems like an impossible bridge that can take you from a feeling of isolation and hopelessness to serenity one stone at a time. |
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Experience empathy and genuine caring
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Renewed hope
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Focus on your action plan for life you gained in session
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Decrease your pain as you experience the relief from your suffering
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Begin the process of healing old wounds
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Self-destructive habits are identified and replaced with coping skills
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Gain an understanding of your emotional well being
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Develop new skills to relieve stress
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Experience relief in feelings of isolation as you develop a therapeutic relationship with a professionally trained therapist
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Experience joy as the darkness is replaced with the light that comes with new insights
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Your self-confidence is increased
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Important goals are back in focus
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Relationships are renewed
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Live with great courage as you focus on the things that are in your power to change
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As you transition you become your own master problem-solver
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In the near future we will be providing comprehensive programs such as ebooks and online counseling courses that you will work through the course with an assigned online counseling professional. Please remember to check back often to see our full listing of no fluff self help books and courses.
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6613 Eastridge Road
Black Hawk, SD 57718
1-888-347-7560
Diana Smith, MA, LPC-MH, CCDC III
Diana owns and operates Serenity Mental Health Services and is licensed by the National Board of Certified Counselors. License number is LPC-MH2025 and she follows the ethical guidelines described by the NBCC found below and at their web site www.nbcc.org/webethics2.
Diana is a member of the National Board for Certified Counselors, Certification Number 43911.
In addition, she is also a member of the American Counseling Association, Member ID# 5140627.
Online counseling can help you right now. Research has made it clear that this manner of offering therapy is effective and those who've experienced it have said they would seek it out again.
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