Dr Pipoly,

Thank you for your submission!  I see that both of our submissions have been up for review for a while with many views and no comments.  Therefore I thought I would "prime the pump" so to speak to see if I might start some activity.

My comments are with regard to format and not content as I will admit upfront that I have yet to read the entire submission; however, I have a simple observation that I trust you find helpful. That is, you might consider consolidating your submission a little further, perhaps to 20-25 pages.  I know this might seem impossible, as you have probably already cut many things from your original research to bring it to this point.  However, many journals have page limitations that necessitate writing in concisely.  You might consider imposing a page limitation on your current document in line with a journal common to your area of expertise to see what might be the result.

Best,

Gary

I am not familiar with GCU's counseling programs and such, so this paper was very informative for me. I think that students would look at online counseling in a similar way that they look at online education. Plus, the online environment allows students to be more open about their thoughts as opposed to face-to-face interaction. I feel that this aspect can be beneficial to those students who have difficulty opening up about their problems. Discussing issues in the online environment can lead to helpful outcomes. This can give students a sense of relief without feeling uncomfortable. Nice work!

This is a very interesting study. Technology has changed the way we do many things, and it continues to spread. The interest is clearly present, so now the question is how to train counselors, how to monitor counselors, and best practices in this area. It seems to me that with a good model in place, this could be very effective. Kristen brought up an excellent point about how some people may open up more in an online setting than face-to-face. As an online instructor, I hear all of the time that students who are shy in a traditional classroom thrive in the online environment. It will be interesting to see where this leads. I believe that it will continue to grow in popularity.

Dear Dr. Pipoly,

Your article offered an informative, precisely research, critical conclusions and well needed study on how students in counseling program perceive online education. You have much to be proud of in your study. As far as the content goes, I am speechless. Your content (e.g. literature study, statement of the problems, research methodology, study analysis, and conclusions) is remarkably constructed. My only suggestions for your work are similar to the suggestions make by Gary. Most journals limit articles to 20-25 pages in length.  I would go back to your article and see how you can reduce the number of pages within your article. You may consider looking at your article topic and seeing if you are information within your article that is unrelated to your article. You may be able to eliminate some information.  Another possibility to consider is to look at some published articles as examples. I noticed that your article is set up much like a dissertation.  You may be able to consolidate some of your subheadings. Most journals articles do not include as many subheadings as you would in your dissertation. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance. I may be contacted at [email protected]. I am here to help.

Good Luck in your publishing endeavor!

Michael L. Hixon, Ed.D

Dr. Pipoly:

I found your article timely and informative. It is extremely well researched and definitely makes a case for further study. You did a great deal of work on this project and it truly shows. I am not familiar with the publishing of articles in scholarly journals, however, given the topic and quality of your work, I wouldn't think that would be a problem. There were, however, a few areas where there were issues with tense, going from past to present, and also some minor spelling issues. Those are easily repaired. I congratulate you on choosing such a "cutting egde" topic!

Dr. Pipoly

This indeed is an interesting study as  I have family members who are Clinical Psychologist. I too agree that limiting the pages to about 20-25. By doing so the reader will be not feel perhaps so over whelmed. You may want to consider condensing your literature review section as well as remove the appendices in their entirety.   I recommend you perhaps review  previous submitted articles to  the JIR in regards to the style and length of those articles to guide you as well. This indeed  is such an interesting topic.

V/R

Dr.Rinyka Allison

Dr. Pipoly,

This was indeed a very well researched paper.  You included a lot of background and research concerning your topic, and took the time to explain the challenges in this field. 

I was especially interested in the e-mentoring portion of the paper.  I have been involved in mentoring elementary school teachers face to face for a district I worked in previously, and I really was interested in the challenges that would be present in implementing help via online.  I like how this section was left that there needs to be more study in this area.  From my experience this is work that really requires both parties to be fully engaged and present with each other, so I can see how people involved would "prefer" face to face in this area.

Thank you for submitting your paper and informing us what is going on in this profession today.

Sheila Shaver

Dear Dr. Pipoli,

Thank you for your quality research and analysis.

I would like to share a couple of minor thoughts:

1) I would suggest including a few words summarizing more precisely the findings of your study in the abstract;

2) Some of the formatting in the paper might not be in full compliance with the APA format, namely the subtitles;

3) The best, to me, part was the review of the literature you provided;

4) I am a bit perplexed with the assertion that the study findings are considered validated with such a small sample of respondents;

5) I found the part discussing the answers of the students you interviwed rather lengthy.  Maybe you would consider condensing it?

If at all possible, I think the entire study would benefit from being condensed from current size.

Respectfully,

P.Tovbin, PhD, MBA

Dear Dr. Pipoly,

What a unique study! I enjoyed reading it. Regarding the format, I am sure you will apply the APA 6^th edition and an editor.

Content is well researched but may I suggest the following?

Abstract:

1) Consider adding the implication(s) and future recommendation(s) to tie findings together.

2) Third paragraph: Inserting the word "major as you did on page 38 between five ["major"] themes would clearly specify the difference between major and common themes in second paragraph of abstract to give readers a clear picture.

Chapter 4. You may briefly want to mention "triangulation" to corroborate the validity.

If this is an article,  do you think it should be reduced to 25 pages or as required by the journal?

Overall, a quality study that is timely, unique, contributes to the field of psychology, is well thought out and designed with content that flows smoothly in easy understood language that an 8^th grade student can comprehend.

Best!

Joan Chambers, PhD

Dr. Piploly,

Your topic is interesting and one that may be more acceptable now, with our increasing use of technology, than it was 10 years ago. I did not intend to read the entire paper at first, but ended up doing so. I would like to see a larger sample group, although the 10 participants was a good start. The group seemed to be very receptive to the concept of online counseling and would like it included in their course curriculum.  Your inclusion of video conferencing as an option for online counseling seems to be a better alternative to an online chat format, or other non-visual contact. As a counselor, I would want to assess the body language of a client. 

I suggest trying to condense the content into 20-25 pages. Overall, nice job on the research.

Kathleen Shriver, DBA

Dr. Pipoly,
Thank you for this submission.  It is a very interesting topic and qualitative research.  It is very relevant, especially in this era of E-interventions.
Good information, flow, literature review and overall argument.  Also the findings are thought provoking.  This qualitative research seem to have been written in a format more suitable for a dissertation that could be transferred into a book chapter.  It would greatly enhance the formatting piece if the document is re-edited to 25-30 pages and divided into journal required sessions (which may change per journal, yet the standard sessions include:  Abstract (150-250 words), background information or literature review, methods, results, and discussion).   Taking into account that everything need to be APA 6th edition style formatted, with few exceptions to meet the journal editorial guidelines.  It may be helpful to check the International Society for Research on Internet interventions (http://www.2013.isrii.org/about-isrii/), since they have research with similar components as this one, this may be helpful with the formatting.
As follows, please find some further comments:
P. 1, last paragraph:  "These certificate programs are open to individuals from all disciplines and with all education levels."  [Please clarify; these sentence appears as an incomplete thought].
P. 2. second paragraph:  "Barak, Hen, Boniel-Nissim, and Shapira (2008)…" [Noting a few more research on the same topic, with significant outcome, could greatly strengthen your point].

Thank you for a relevant and needed research,

Genomary Krigbaum, Psy.D.

Hello Dr Pipoly:

Thank you for your informative and enlightening study regarding counseling students' perceptions of online counseling courses and the future of online counseling. As in many fields, the emerging technologies that enable individuals to connect in the virtual realm are both enticing and understudied. Although my knowledge of the counseling profession is limited, I believe your posits regarding the need to train people to interact in an online milieu are salient. Given that globalization is increasing and the complexity of occupational tasks are on the rise, the ability to conduct operations in an online format has and will continue to increase in importance. Unfortunately, as you noted, academic programs have failed to meet this growing demand and necessity.

Your comments about the usefulness of e-mail in communication are apposite. Many of us who function in the online environment appreciate the asynchronous nature of the modality. This affords, in the case of counselors and clients, the ability to comprise thoughtful questions and responses; this also affords time for personal reflection. A significant challenge remains of how to simulate the cathartic effects of communicating with an individual in a face-to-face setting. Perhaps as technological advances increase and communication through online formats becomes normalized, codified, and widely accepted, the shortcomings of communicating in an in-depth manner and regarding rather nuanced topics can improve.

Thanks,

Eric Nordin

This is a very interesting topic that I never really considered. Technology is definitely a staple in today's world; it seems like everything can be done online. I guess counseling online is not one that I had considered. You had stated that websites designed for online counseling has gone up by 55%, this seems like a good amount and it would be interesting to see the efficiency of this method versus face to face. It would make sense that the reason for the growth is due to convenience of access such as is the case with online education. While I was reading this I thought it would be interesting if the efficacy of online counseling would be dependent upon what is being treated. You also state that online counseling is not currently accepted by a lot of professional organizations, I thought that their hesitations could be valid. Seems similar to online education, people may do it for its convenience but it does not necessarily mean it will be best/most effective for them in the long run. Just as you stated there are some concerns with online counseling such as the fact that no study has looked at qualification, motivation, satisfaction, etc. It would be highly important to incorporate certain requirements, laws, guidelines, etc in order to prevent a lot of mishaps from happening. Since there is an increase in the interest in this type of counseling it would be good for Universities to incorporate it into their curriculum such as how the ethical guidelines might be different compared to face to face interaction. I am not sure that I fully believe in pure online counseling as being totally effective as I feel when a counselor is able to see their facial expressions and study their body movement it can help to treat the patient. I think it would be great to incorporate online methods with face to face methods to help get a great support system going for that patient. This is a great study I enjoyed reading it, very thorough

Dr. Pipoly,

 An excellent submission here that tackles a real, cutting-edge issue in counseling. With the explosion of social-media and online modalities educators and counselors are wrestling with the viability of related approaches in tackling deep personal issues (i.e. spiritual formation, and effective therapy). Your paper is well-organized and well-written. I would encourage you however, to reduce your paper to 25-30 pages in length. In particular, the early sections of your paper appear to be too long - compared to your 'findings' section. Although such detail would be expected in a thesis (documents your methodology) - it is not necessary to provide this level of information in an article for publication. In the case of presenting your research (which is good), my perspective is that less is more.

Sincerely,

Scott D. Edgar

PhD, DMin.

803.397.1771

Dr. Pipoly,

Thank you for this excellent paper addressing the use of technology in the counseling process.  Technologies offers critical services to people living and working in situations that prevent accessing using traditional methods such as visiting an office or other type of physical campus.  My hope remains that use of technology does not replace traditional voice to voice and person to person communications which we continue using to build our civilization.  When people use technology and other similar services, providing an alternative to physical human to human contact with the counselor still needs to be encouraged.   I appreciate your efforts to include the spiritual and relationship components throughout your proposal.  Your use of multiple outside sources and strong organization give you the opportunity to continue focusing on critical points in the body of this paper while making use of outside sources as a opportunity to give readers an outstanding place for further learning.  Again, appreciation goes out to you for your overall outstanding research on the topic of using technology for expanding opportunities access to critical counseling services to people. 

Sincerely,

Thomas Joseph

Greetings  Dr. Pipoly,

I am a licensed professional counselor teaching online and understand some of the dilemmas presented in your research.  I agree completely that more emphasis needs to be based in the online teaching curriculum if we are to model and teach how to be online counselors.  Since there are no ethical standards set forth by the American Counseling Association, (ACA), it makes for a blurry vision as to what online counseling should or will eventually look like.  As others have shared, we need to be concerned with how to connect and build rapport with our clients online, which is instrumental in the mental health process.  The processes required for maintaining confidentiality is another obstacle.  For now, I'm not convinced we are near a successful treatment modality, but do believe there are some helpful tools online.  I have to believe some information is better than no services at all, although there is a good bit of misinformation on the internet as well, creating unnecessary anxiety which is not being monitored.  Perhaps online counseling will improve with time, education and a standardized code of ethics.  Whatever becomes of online counseling, it will be a far cry from its roots in Freudian therapy J

One point I feel the need to bring to light is under the section titled 'Guiding Theory'.   You wrote; "The Internet is an almost endless source of making personal connections with others through various modalities such as e-mail, chat or video conferencing. The social- system approach can be applied to online counseling in that this is just one modality in which we are enabled to engage in a socially oriented world".   While this is true, I have to argue perhaps many people avoid deeper contact through the use of technology, such as 'avoiding phone calls' and 'use of email' instead of making personal contact.  This might be a limitation to getting to the deeper issues associated with counseling.

Clearly, more research is needed in the area and your work highlights many important questions needing to be answered.

All the best.

Marcie Burger, LPC

Dr. Pipoly,

Thanks for conducting and sharing such a rigorous study on a topic of interest. As indicated in your report, 79.9 percent of students' responded positively to web-based instructions within counseling program (Manzanares, 2004) -which is a sign of positive shift. It is evident how technological advancements have revolutionized the direction method of learning is shifting from face-to-face to online modality-therefore; online counseling is no different to that effect. And online counseling is fairly new, it will take time to train committed students to effectively learn how to deliver counseling online. Ethical and policy issues will eventually change to accommodate shift in demand.

As other reviewers suggested, a condense version (20 - 25 pages) will help. In essence, your research is consistent and relevant.

Sincerely,

J. Ibeh Agbanyim

Dr. Pipoly, thank you for doing a truly meaningful study. 

I must concur with Dr. Piercy's early observation that it is difficult to discuss this as a contribution for the journal because it is not in that format.

Please use APA guidelines for a manuscript (which are different in some ways from a dissertation).  In addition to your 6^th edition of the APA Publication Manual, see http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ (they have a sample paper there also). 

For example,

Abstract:  Should be 150-250 words in length and all one paragraph. 

Document should be double-spaced throughout (including abstract)

No Table of Contents for a journal article.

No Chapter headings

You must condense your submission for journal publication to no more than 25 pages for most journals.

I look forward to your revised submission!

Cordially,

Dr. Heretick

(Also,  for your title: Counseling Students' Perceptions Toward the Efficacy of Online Counseling  (Needs apostrophe after "Students"  as it is possessive))

Dr. Pipoly,

It was a very interesting study. I am not surprised that more graduate students than those in the field are interested in online counseling programs. With counseling being such a wide umbrella, it would be interesting to see the study focused on the different types of counseling (i.e. family counseling versus grief counseling). Like you indicated, I too find it interesting that more people are not familiar with online counseling since it has been around for thirty years. I wonder if the reason why grad students are interested in the program is because they see how much more widespread and effecient they could be versus those in the field that feel a face-to-face counseling session allows for the reading of para-language and creates a more personal bond? As with good research, your findings create a lot of questions for future researchers. As technologies advance and we become an even more mobile society it will be interesting to see if the attitudes continue to shift.

Thanks all! I appreciate the time you all took to review and your feedback. I will be condensing it down to the recommended 20-25 pages. I agree it is lengthy.

As a seasoned online instructor and an online doctoral learner in philosophy and psychology, I am interesting in working in online counseling.  You make an excellent point in that online counseling is a new field and many psychologists in training do not have experience using online tools and techniques.  These include learning tools, interaction and communication tools, and documentation tools.  Your study illuminates many areas where additional research is required, such as the curriculum required for this type of career.

 Online therapy is certainly realistic for many different types of people as well as situations.  As per your findings, online counseling programs exist as well as online higher education programs.  Telemedicine services currently exist in many forms and can potentially expand exponentially.  Telephone counseling via one's medical insurance has existed for many years.  Online counseling takes this a step further.  The client's selection of modalities is interesting, especially if there is video involved.  This may be the biggest hurdle as there are laws regarding video chatting with people under a certain age. 

Your study brings up a good point regarding the importance of the historical face-to-face counseling sessions. 

Different types of situations and discussions are best done using this type of method.  There can certainly be combinations of online sessions as well as onsite sessions depending on one's schedule and or needs at that point in time.  E-therapy is expanding in proportion to our ever-increasing society and online requirements. 

Your study has provided your audience with many avenues of research as well as opportunities for learning.

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