Not at all what I expected (7cups online chat)

[sarah_hillcrest]

I read CrossKimmy's post about talking to a counselor over the phone yesterday and it left an impression on me. The idea of talking to someone definitely appealed to me. Today I had some free time and looked up online counseling, I ended up checking out this website called 7cups which claims to offer affordable online therapy. I made an account and got to the part where you pay. In the fine print I found thier definition of affordable, $150 dollars a month, I didn't continue.

They do offer a free listening service which connects trained listeners to you, so I tried that out. It was kind of strange and I wanted to share my experience with it.

After a few minutes I was connected up to someone. I told them I was struggling with the desire to present as female. They asked me a few questions about crossdressing, which I said I did whenever I got the chance. The conversation veered towards sex and the listener claimed that I was holding back. I admitted that in real life I wasn't very open about sex. They asked me to not hold back and imagine I was presenting as a woman and we had met somewhere. What followed was a somewhat bizarre role playing session, which I actually found very interesting, until I realized my listener was no longer role playing and was actually trying to connect up with me in the real world to help me learn to be myself.

Not exactly what I expected. 95% creeped out, but I have to admit that it was therapeutic.

[Tracii G]

Sounds like a very unprofessional site/ service and a shill for a freaky behavior club.

[sarah_hillcrest]

yeah I was expecting this very professional type of conversation, or actually expected it to be a chat bot or something. The questions he asked were reasonable, and it wasn't like graphic, he just role played a guy hitting on me, but then I realized he was actually hitting on me and trying to get real world contact information. I'm almost sure the guy was using the site to groom people into some situation where he could exploit them, or at least that's my hunch.

In a related note has anyone had experience with on-line counseling?

[IamWren]

I tried online counseling for about a month or so. One of the limitations to it is that one has to have VERY strong writing/grammar skills. Conveying exactly what you mean without the added benefit of inflection, hand gestures and facial expressions makes your ability to accurately use and have a strong command of the written word absolutely necessary.

That also goes for the counselor which I found to not be the case. If you want to know which site I used you can PM me.

[Jaymees22]

Sounds like a plot to a Lifetime movie.
Wonder what the requirements are to become trained listener.
Have you ever seen Web Therapy?

[docrobbysherry]

Role playing is a form of cybersex for some folks. It allows people who will never see each other in person to CAM in costumes, nude, partially naked, or just write scenarios back and forth that can be "stimulating" if they just let their imaginations go!.:o

I know. My kinky picto stories attract folks that want me to "play" with them online. :D
Not my thing, tho.:straightface:

[alwayshave]

Sarah, Sounds like a nasty chat line, not counseling.

[GretchenM]

My daughter is a therapist. She does counsel a client in another part of the State, but they use Skype so there is still a face to face contact to complement the discussions. Having been in therapy (not with my daughter thankfully - that is actually against the code of ethics) and I cannot imagine it working without that face to face contact. It seems like it would be more like an advice line rather than therapy which tends to go really deep into your person. I think you are correct, the place you visited was a scam with ulterior motives. Good you jumped ship, Sarah.

[Stephanie47]

My daughter is a therapist who does on-line work also with Skype. She also sees clients physically face to face in an office. She is a provider for several insurance plans. I 'Googled' 7 cups. There's a lot of comments. There's a free side and a paying side. The free side sounds like a chat room.

[CrossKimmy]

I’ve actually been on that site before and had a very pleasant experience with one of the therapists. Sometimes you just need a sympathetic ear.

[sarah_hillcrest]

yeah the free side was definitely a chat room, and I can imagine it being really good to connect you up with a sympathetic listener, but I managed to get a Nigerian scammer or horny guy in a basement, heck maybe both.

Anyway, I agree with Gretchen, maybe skype video chat, or something would be beneficial but with text based discussion so much is lost in translation.