Online counseling may be the latest and greatest improvement in therapy. It seems to be perfect for this fast-paced world with many workers who sit by their computer screens all day long. Yet, it is not limited to today's information technology workers or those whose work requires being online frequently.

Imagine how convenient it will be to read a quick email from your therapist that can give you just the insight you were looking for to move beyond your failed relationship or that obsession with chocolate that was left in the wake of a bad break-up. This could be the very addiction that is causing you to buy larger sized clothes all of the sudden.

Think about the worried mother who doesn't quite know what to do about her child's out-of-character or unusual behavior. Or even worse, the distraught parent trying to cope with his teenager's drug or alcohol addiction. And of course there are other intense problems, such as teen pregnancy, death of a loved one or terminal illness in the family.

These can be tough problems to tackle in an already stressed environment that is the world we live in. But when do you find the time to go to your therapy session? This is especially the case when your therapist is not available during the day, over weekends or at some other time when it is convenient to you?

Think about the time it takes to travel back and forth for a therapy session even when you do manage to schedule one. There is the ever increasing cost of gasoline to contend with too, adding to the stress that might lead you to seek counseling in the first place!

Then there are some problems that you might not want to talk to someone face-to-face with, especially someone who lives in your home town. Wouldn't it be much easier to sign up for email counselling sessions with someone in a far away city? You could even open an anonymous email account with yahoo or some other email provider that doesn't necessarily need your real name, and use that to offer near total anonymity.

This seems like a good idea, it can provide you the kind of nurturing environment needed to really pour your heart out to the therapist and get a professional response via email. The therapist doesn't have to know anything about your identity and can still treat you professionally. And this could mean no embarrassing record that could be subpoenaed in a court of law.

A good online counseling plan might include unlimited emails for a certain amount of time. Giving you the kind of access to a therapist that you might not get in a once-a-week appointment. Not without paying extra, that is.

Yes, there are a number of benefits to seeking online therapy. Anonymity, access, time and money savings. No one needs to know you are in therapy and they won't ever see you "go" to an appointment. Yet, while you are sitting at your computer, an email may pop up with just the timely advice or encouragement you were looking for, the kind of support that can be hard to come by in today's crazy, mixed up world.