Email Counselling  for Problem Solving, Decision Making and Personal Therapy

With Dr Jim Byrne, Doctor of Counselling

A form of supported writing therapy 

Welcome to my Email Counselling and Therapy Service

Hello, I’m Dr Jim Byrne, a Doctor of Counselling in my twenty-third year in private practice in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, UK; but helping clients all over the world.  (If you’d prefer Skype/webcam counselling or telephone counselling, please click this link).

Over the past twenty-two years, I’ve helped more than one-thousand individuals with problems of anger management, stress management, confidence and self-esteem building, anxiety control, depression reduction, plus couple counselling and marriage guidance. Many of those individuals needed help with attachment issues, personality adaptations, life transitions, goals and habits; and various other issues and problems.

Most of my email counselling clients come from the UK, Ireland, Canada, the US, Australia, or are English speakers from other parts of the globe (including Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Singapore, etc.)

Email counselling is surprisingly effective – but only if you are

• the kind of person who enjoys writing;
• a good communicator in written English; and
• someone who learns well from written texts.

I have helped dozens of individuals using this approach.

Three levels of service – three different prices

I offer three levels of service, which vary in cost:

my mini-service;

median service;

and my maxi-service:

– Mini-service:

Firstly: This service involves you writing two pages of text (A4 or Letter size), describing your problem(s), and sending it to me for analysis, and written feedback of my insights and action pointers.

Secondly: I will also ask you to complete at least one questionnaire, which will help me to know how to relate to you (via your thinking, feeling or behaviours), and it will also give me a deeper understanding of the social/interpersonal background to your problems.

I will spend about one working day analyzing your information, and crafting my response, which will be presented directly on your submitted script, plus a brief, summarizing report.

Some former clients used to write out their problems at greater length, and then summarize that down to two pages of A4 or Letter size, with normal margins, and using 12 point type.  While others wrote more briefly. 

And still others wrote at length – submitting six, eight or ten pages – and asked me to split their multi-page text up into lots of two pages. They then paid multiple fees to cover those multiple submissions.

The cost of this service is currently (from 23rd December 2020) £180.00 GBP per two-page submission.

To book a Mini-Service session of Email Counselling with me, please send me an email with brief details of your needs.  I will then advise you regarding submission, and the time frame of my response.  I will not begin to work on your problem until your fee has arrived. 

I can either send you a PayPal invoice, with a clickable “Pay” button, on which you can use any credit or debit card; or I can let you have my bank account details, and you can use internet banking to pay me directly.

To make initial contact, please email Dr Jim Byrne at drjwbyrne@gmail.com

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– Median service:  This service involves you writing up to four pages of text, about your current problem(s);

– and also completing two or more questionnaires which will assess your personality and perhaps your lifestyle factors, depending upon your “presenting problem”. 

Your four pages, plus two questionnaires, will allow me to gain insights into ‘who you are’, and substantial information about your current problem(s). 

I will spend up to two working days reflecting on your issues, and crafting my responses. As before, I send you my feedback in the form of insights and action pointers, typed on the text that you submitted, so that the comments appear adjacent to the points to which they refer, for ease of understanding. In addition, I will send you a File Note Report, which will contain summarized commentaries on your submitted information, plus information sheets about some of the skills and information you will need to solve your problem(s).

The cost of this service is currently (from 23rd December 2020) £250.00 GBP.

To book a Median-Service session of Email Counselling with me, please send me an email with brief details of your needs.  I will then advise you regarding submission, and the likely time frame of my response.  I will not begin to work on your problem until your fee has arrived.  I can either send you a PayPal invoice, with a clickable “Pay” button, on which you can use any credit or debit card; or I can let you have my bank account details, and you can use internet banking to pay me directly.

To make initial contact, please email Dr Jim Byrne at drjwbyrne@gmail.com

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– Maxi-service: This service involves you writing up to six pages of text, about your current problem(s);

– plus completing three or more questionnaires which are directly relevant to your presenting problem(s).  Having access to all that information will allow me to gain deeper insights into ‘who you are’, and ‘how you operate’; and greater detail about your lifestyle factors, and other drivers of your current problem(s).

By contrast with my mini- and median services, described above, with the Maxi-service, I will spend up to four days reflecting upon, and analyzing/digesting, all of your submitted data/information, out of which I will craft a substantial report containing…

• recommended solutions to your target problem(s) –
• plus attachments in the form of relevant book chapters, or articles/papers which act as educational resources and as sources of skill development. 

The cost of this service is currently (from 23rd December 2020) £600.00 GBP.

To book a session of Maxi-Service Email Counselling with me, please send me an email with brief details of your needs.  I will then advise you regarding submission, and the likely time frame of my response.  I will not begin to work on your problem until your fee has arrived. 

I can either send you a PayPal invoice, with a clickable “Pay” button, on which you can use any credit or debit card; or I can let you have my bank account details, and you can use internet banking to pay me directly.

To make initial contact, please email Dr Jim Byrne at drjwbyrne@gmail.com

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Unsolicited testimonial from a recent email counselling client

♣ “Hi Jim, Thanks for your help and support and guidance.  Your advice to ‘let nature take its course’, in my relationship with my daughter and grandson, really paid off.  She came to see me after three weeks of my resisting (with great difficulty) phoning or emailing her.  And she and her husband stayed for two days, and I had a lovely time with them and my grandson.  It was the best imaginable visit!  My daughter and I are closer than ever, now that you have encouraged me to ‘let her go’!  Thank you so much!”

D.B., Crag Vale, West Yorkshire.  (Two sessions of face to face counselling for anxiety about relationship conflict).

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Which level of service is best for you?

The mini-service is cheaper, but brief.

The maxi-service is comprehensive, but relatively expensive (but great value for money in terms of the time taken to write the report, and the breadth and depth of the advice and guidance given!)

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‘Play’ in counselling and therapy involves the willingness to let go of your old stories, and to work at rewriting the narratives of your life: “Donald Winnicott speaks of (counselling and) psychotherapy as a means of bringing someone into a state of being able to play, when previously this had been impossible.  In play, there is a childlike (but yet also adult) dissolution, reconstruction, and re-organization of memories, experiences, and events”.  In the playfulness of exploring narratives of your earlier life, you may have the startling but gratifying experience of creating a new life for yourself (because it is newly interpreted).

Robert F. Hobson, Forms of Feeling: The heart of psychotherapy, Page 243. (53).

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About my response

I will normally give my detailed and considered reply to your email within three or four working days. (However, with the Maxi-service, the report writing phase can take a long time, and so I aim to deliver your report withing 7 to 8 days of your submission).

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“Writing therapy is highly effective, compared with drug treatments, but the mechanism by which writing therapy works is still unclear.  It may just be that the opportunity to express a problem that has been bottled up is curative in itself; or that it is the thinking through of a problem that has not previously been thoroughly digested that produces the effect.  Effective writing therapy seems to involve processing previously unprocessed negative emotions, in a self-reflective way, and identifying causal links between elements of the story.  It also normally involves using more positive than negative words, and ending with a coping self-statement”.  Dr Jim Byrne, from the first e-book on E-CENT counselling.

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Email counselling can involve one or two sessions to sort out a practical problem; or a more extensive series of sessions, to resolve deeper, more traumatic emotional experiences.

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INSIGHTS INTO EMAIL EXCHANGES
AS A FORM OF THERAPY

According to the International Society for Mental Health Online (ISMHO):

“… In the case of using email exchanges …, you may feel more comfortable writing about your problems than talking about them.

4. You may write about what is bothering you sooner than you would talk about it. This can bring faster resolution to problems.

5. Writing may help you to think through your problems and to get in touch with your emotions. It can bring focus, clarity, insight, and emotional relief.

6. You can read and re-read your emails, …, thus achieving greater learning.

7. Writing enhances your relationship with yourself. …”

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Some additional points are made by Susan Wallbank, talking about writing more generally:

“(Email) counselling allows the client an opportunity to express thoughts and feelings and explore issues at the time when these are uppermost in their mind. (Emails) can be written at (a time of most convenience) and continued over a period of days or weeks. The client determines the timing of their side of the contract. Putting words down on paper often enables the writer to feel a sense of control over their situation and is often perceived as therapeutic in itself. Knowing someone is there to receive, acknowledge and respond to (emails) can provide those moving through (painful or distressing transitions) with a sense of security and provides a tangible opportunity to chart personal progress”. Susan Wallbank, in Palmer and McMahon (2000).

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I have looked in detail at the question of suitability of email counselling for particular audiences, and concluded that:

“Writing therapy seems to be a viable option for most people, but excluding people who are either: seriously depressed, highly stressed, suffering from PTSD, or who have negative associations with writing at school.  It probably appeals most to people who enjoy writing, and who are self-reflective”.

Dr Jim Byrne; from the first e-book on E-CENT counselling.

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Email counselling can involve one or two sessions to sort out a practical problem; or a more extensive series of sessions, to resolve deeper, more traumatic emotional experiences.

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If you are not sure how to begin to write your email, you might find it helpful to read my Guidelines for Writing Therapy.

There are lots of testimonials from satisfied clients on the Unsolicited Client Testimonials page.  Here’s an example:

CLIENT TESTIMONIAL

“Dear Jim! Thank you very much for your help with my problems with shyness and social anxiety. Our work has helped me to gain important insights, and actually made me feel a little better in a short amount of time. I know I need to ‘work and practice, work and practice, work and practice’; and you have now clarified for me what I need to work on, and how to do that work!” R.G., Denmark. (Exchange of four emails).

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I will respond to the key points in your email with analysis, interpretations, suggestions and action-oriented homework assignments.  The report, produced for the maxi-service, normally includes a good deal of bibliotherapy, or written material relevant to your problem.

In other words, I will tell you what you can do that will most likely help solve your problem as quickly and efficiently as is possible.

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To discuss this service, or to get additional information, please email Jim Byrne at ABC Coaching and Counselling Services.

Or phone me, Dr Jim Byrne, on:

44 1422 843 629 (from outside the UK); or:

01422 843 629 (from inside the UK).

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Email Client Testimonial

♣  “Thank you, Jim.  I use your Six Windows Model every time I’m emotionally disturbed; … and the specific applications you developed for dealing with depression, anger, and stress are very helpful.  … I normally rely upon my … religious beliefs to get me through my life, … but the Six Windows philosophy made the difference recently.”

P.J.L., Argentina. (Three sessions of email counselling for a variety of emotional problems).

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If you absolutely cannot boil your text down to the relevant number of pages, for the service level you have chosen, and you want to submit a longer document, then please let me know, and I’ll give you a quote in the form of a PayPal invoice.

Sincerely,

Jim

Dr Jim Byrne, Doctor of Counselling.

ABC Coaching and Counselling Services

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To see a range of books by Jim Byrne and/or Renata Taylor-Byrne, please click this link for the ABC Bookstore.***

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