Counselling families, women and children in difficult situations is always a challenge, all the more so if it has to take place online because the Corona crisis won’t allow personal contact. Working in the virtual space requires easy technical solutions and new ideas how to establish open, trusted conversation.
Objective:
Competence in virtual counselling.
Solution:
In a three-hour online seminar, we practiced virtual counselling with 12 participants from the Wildwasser help centre, the Kinderschutzbund Großgerau and the Rüsselsheim women’s centre.
Transferring analogue situations to virtual space
Putting trust in ourselves and technology, we jointly tested the benefits of a wide range of online tools to address and work on issues occasionally interrupted by active breaks. We realized that we can transfer many methods known from analogue counselling situations to the virtual space. Thus, we can create an open, trusting atmosphere. It won’t equal personal encounter, of course, but it can serve as a valuable replacement, at least temporarily. The Kreissparkasse Groß-Gerau, which sponsored the online seminar, is currently considering offering the training session to other help centres.
Contacts
