We know that the Online Counseling and Therapy world is beginning to mature when systematic reviews begin to appear in reputable journals.
The Journal of Technology in Human Services (Volume 31, Issue 1, 2013), published just such a review, Online Counseling and Therapy for Mental Health Problems: A Systematic Review of Individual Synchronous Interventions Using Chat.
The authors, Mitchell Dowling and Debra Rickwood, note:
the burgeoning of services provided online by psychologists, counselors, and social workers”.
The systematic review focuses on evidence for the effectiveness of online chat counseling and therapy, and not video sessions of the type offered by TherapyEverywhere.com or Skype.
The article cites:
emerging evidence supporting the use of online chat
But also notes:
the overall quality of the studies is poor, including few randomized control trials (RCTs)
Given that many therapists are providing online sessions, at TherapyEverywhere.com we will be doing our best to keep evolving our solution to support the best evidence-based practices for online therapy and counseling by psychologists, counselors, and social workers.