Jaber Fatima, Al-Hroub Anies
Department of Education, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
Front Psychol. 2023 Jan 12;13:1083644. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1083644. eCollection 2022.
Virtual counseling has become an increased necessity as a result of the current pandemic as well as the need for methods that comply with the continuous changes and advancements. Studies conducted have shown that the perceptions of counselors of the benefits and barriers reflect whether or not the counseling service will be successful. This study is a descriptive research design following a qualitative approach. The study aimed to explore (a) the school counselor's perceptions of the benefits and barriers they encounter when using virtual counseling, (b) the perceived differences between conducting virtual counseling and in-person counseling, and (c) whether participation in virtual counseling differs as a result of students' characteristics in the perception of school counselors. Five private schools in the Beirut region were contacted as they were known to have virtual counseling programs. Both the schools and counselors were purposively chosen. Seven in-depth semi-structured interviews and one focus group discussion (FGD) were carried out with the study participants. Interpretational analysis was carried out to assess and analyze the obtained data. The results showed that through these experiences, counselors were able to develop new methods with regard to technology and other practices to limit the effects of obstacles faced. Counselors' communication tools were also fine-tuned since they had to rely on unorthodox methods to understand students and deal with them better. Results showed that the benefits also have to do with time and method flexibility, the main barriers were issues of privacy, change in workplace dynamics, and lack of usage of tools. The findings were discussed in relation to four main themes: (a) service delivery adaptation, (b) working with technology, (c) counselor's practices in delivering virtual counseling, and (d) preparation and training for virtual counseling. Being that it is qualitative research, the interpretational analysis was carried out to assess the obtained data. The results showed that the main benefits have to do with time and method flexibility, and the main barriers were issues of privacy and change in workplace dynamics. The results showed that the new changes and the counselor's experience, along with the personal attributes of counselors and students, all influenced the efficiency of the counseling sessions.
由于当前的疫情以及对符合持续变化和进步的方法的需求，虚拟咨询已变得愈发必要。已开展的研究表明，咨询师对益处和障碍的看法反映了咨询服务是否会取得成功。本研究采用定性方法，是一种描述性研究设计。该研究旨在探讨：（a）学校咨询师对使用虚拟咨询时所遇到的益处和障碍的看法；（b）进行虚拟咨询与面对面咨询之间的感知差异；（c）在学校咨询师的认知中，学生特征是否会导致虚拟咨询参与情况的不同。由于已知黎巴嫩地区的五所私立学校设有虚拟咨询项目，因此与这些学校进行了联系。学校和咨询师均是经过有目的地挑选。对研究参与者进行了七次深度半结构化访谈和一次焦点小组讨论（FGD）。进行了解释性分析以评估和分析所获得的数据。结果表明，通过这些经历，咨询师能够在技术和其他实践方面开发新方法，以限制所面临障碍的影响。咨询师的沟通工具也得到了优化，因为他们不得不依靠非传统方法来理解学生并更好地与他们打交道。结果表明，益处还与时间和方法的灵活性有关，主要障碍是隐私问题、工作场所动态变化以及工具使用不足。研究结果围绕四个主要主题进行了讨论：（a）服务提供的适应性；（b）与技术合作；（c）咨询师提供虚拟咨询的实践；（d）虚拟咨询的准备和培训。鉴于这是一项定性研究，进行了解释性分析以评估所获得的数据。结果表明，主要益处与时间和方法的灵活性有关，主要障碍是隐私问题和工作场所动态变化。结果表明，新的变化、咨询师的经验以及咨询师和学生的个人特质，都影响了咨询会议的效率。
