Online/Cyber Counseling Services in the COVID-19 Outbreak: Are They Really New?

Enhancing music therapy for developmental psychopathology: The role of technology in advancing therapeutic outcomes

Music therapy is increasingly recognized as a valuable intervention for individuals with developmental psychopathology. Therefore, this review aimed to examine the empirical evidence supporting the effectiveness of music therapy and explore the enhancement of therapeutic outcomes through technological advancements such as virtual reality (VR), interactive music applications, and telehealth. A total of 67 peer-reviewed studies were analyzed using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) method to assess the effect of music therapy on emotional regulation, social skills, and cognitive development in individuals with conditions such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Meta-analytical evidence showed that music therapy produced moderate-to-large effect sizes in improving psychological and social functioning. The integration of digital tools in music therapy presented new opportunities for accessibility and engagement, although challenges including cost, ethical considerations, and the need for standardized protocols remained. This review found study gaps and offered recommendations for future investigations on optimizing technology-enhanced music therapy intervention.

The influence of internet information exposure on Chinese youth's intention of online psychological counseling: based on SOR theory and the mindful coping model

Psychological health is a prominent social issue worldwide and in China. Simultaneously, the rapid development of internet medical services in China provides a solid foundation for online psychological counseling. However, the cultural values of Chinese people often lead to a reluctance to pursue psychological counseling, adding to the complexity of the issue. The purpose of this study is to explore how information exposure, trait mindfulness, public stigma, and self-stigma among Chinese youth affect their intentions of seeking online psychological counseling. Based on the SOR (stimulus-organism-response) theory, combined with a mindful coping model, a structural equation model was constructed to analyze the path of the effects of information exposure, trait mindfulness, public stigma, and self-stigma on behavioral intention. A total of 671 valid questionnaires were collected through online surveys. First, SPSS 26.0 was used for questionnaire reliability and validity analysis, demographic characteristic difference testing, and correlation testing between variables. Secondly, Amos 26.0 was used to construct the structural equation model, verify the model fitting, identify the relationship between latent variables, and perform path testing. The study results indicate that (1) The intention of online psychological counseling among Chinese youth has significant differences in terms of age, occupation, monthly income, and previous counseling experiences. (2) Information exposure positively affects counseling intention (β = 0.434, P < 0.001), Trait mindfulness positively affects counseling intention (β = 0.100, P < 0.05), information exposure doesn't significantly affect public stigma (β = 0.015, P = 0.727), information exposure negatively affects self-stigma (β = -0.079, P < 0.05), mindfulness character negatively affects public stigma (β = -0.421, P < 0.001), mindfulness character negatively affects self-stigma (β = -0.115, P < 0.001), public stigma positively affects self-stigma (β = -0.766, P < 0.001), public stigma negatively affects counseling intention (β = -0.234, P < 0.01), and self-stigma negatively affects counseling intention (β = -0.248, P < 0.001). Combining the SOR theory with the mindful coping model, it has been found that information exposure and trait mindfulness positively affect counseling intention, information exposure doesn't affect public stigma but negatively affects self-stigma, trait mindfulness negatively affects both public and self-stigma, and both public stigma and self-stigma negatively affect counseling intention. This study provides a sample for the SOR theory and the mindful coping model, and provides new insights and path support for individuals resisting the stigma of psychological illness and seeking professional help under Eastern cultural values.

Receptivity towards Remote Service Delivery among Social Work Clients and Practitioners during COVID Times: A Systematic Review

PURPOSE

This systematic review aims to identify and synthesize the available evidence on the receptivity toward, perceived advantages and challenges of remote service delivery among social work clients and practitioners during the context of COVID-19.

METHOD

Two electronic databases were searched from 2020 to 2022. Identified papers were screened against the established eligibility criteria, yielding 15 papers. Two additional papers were further identified through hand-search. As heterogeneity of studies was high, a narrative synthesis was performed to summarize the overall evidence.

RESULTS

Our review provides evidence that remote service delivery holds the potential to increase access to services among selected client populations as well as promote a sense of empowerment for clients and opportunities for practice enhancement for practitioners.

DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION

The findings from our study highlighted the need for innovative solutions and practical considerations for ongoing remote service, including the careful considerations of social work clients' and practitioners' suitability, the need for provision of training and ongoing support to optimize practitioners' well-being. As the delivery of services transition to face-to-face or remain remote, further research is needed to assess the promise of remote practice in optimizing overall service delivery, while maintaining client-reported satisfaction.

Factors Affecting Emergency Medical Utilization After Self-harm and Effectiveness of Community-Based Suicide Prevention Provisions in Preventing Self-harm: A Nationwide Registry-Based Study in Korea

In order to formulate and implement a community-based suicide prevention program, as well as evaluate the effectiveness of these programs, it is necessary to understand the epidemiological characteristics of self-harm. Clinical data were collected from the National Emergency Department Information System (NEDIS) data panel in Korea for patients seen after self-harm episodes. Socioeconomic factors were collected from Statistics Korea. Variables representing SP provisions (SPPs) were collected from the Korea Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Increasing the number of mental health providers resulted in lower annual emergency department visit rate after self-harm (VRSH) in the entire population, as well as in both the young and elderly populations. An increase in the mental health budget led to a significant reduction in VRSHs. However, the number of suicide prevention centers did not have any significant association with the VRSH. This study also provides substantial evidence that community-based SPPs are effective in preventing self-harm.

The Experiences of Australian School Mental Health Professionals during COVID-19 Lockdowns

Young people have emerged as one of the most impacted groups from the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions to daily activities, with disruptions to schooling, social interactions, and connections. Simultaneously, students' access to school mental health professionals were restricted or modified. The aim of this paper was to identify how school mental health professionals supported and addressed the mental health needs of young people during COVID-19 restrictions in Australia. School mental health professionals were surveyed during the 2020 lockdowns using a questionnaire designed by researchers in the United States of America. The innovations school mental health staff adopted to support students during lockdowns and remote learning were presented, including telehealth services, digital resources, and the online training and support they received/provided. The barriers and facilitators to providing counselling and assessment services during lockdowns were identified, including issues with providing psychometric assessments during remote learning, and ethical concerns when delivering remote counselling to students. Recommendations have been included, which address how school mental health professionals could be supported to assess and treat young people during future pandemics and school restrictions.

Online mental health services during COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia: Challenges from psychologist perspective

COVID-19 are causing many psychological impacts and change many aspects of human life. Mental health services also experiencing changes because of COVID-19 outbreak. In Indonesia, COVID-19 outbreak prompted the rapid development of online mental health services. These online mental health services which will help people to connect with professional mental healthcare providers using technology were created in response to this pandemic. Therefore, converting mental health services into online services in a state of urgency is challenging. This qualitative case study aims to provide a map of the service challenges that professional healthcare providers face while providing online services at present time by interviewing eight Indonesian psychologists as one of the mental health professionals who provided the online mental health services. Semi-structured interviews were done using interview guidelines with open-ended questions, and any other complementary data was collected using questionnaire. The data gathered from interviews was first performed through triangulation and then analyzed using thematic network analysis, which resulted in the following challenges: (1) building engagement; (2) risk of getting distracted during the sessions; (3) maintaining professional boundaries during the sessions; (4) keeping the personal information and confidentiality of the sessions; (5) perceived efficacy; and (6) attitudes towards online sessions. According to the results, the relevant organization can use this finding to contribute and develop the online mental health services both in this COVID-19 situation and in the future.

Metaverse as a new place for online mental health services in the post-COVID-19 era: Is it a challenge or an opportunity?

In this article, the author describes the challenges and opportunities of metaverse's presence in the world for online mental health services. Aside from that, the author provides insight that metaverse can become a new place that is more comfortable and enjoyable for everyone who can relish the online mental health meetings with a new atmosphere and sensation, especially in the post-COVID-19 era.

Therapists' practical implementation and preparation of online counseling in the post-pandemic era

In recent years, COVID-19 has led to a blossoming of online counseling (OC) as an important and alternative way to help people in need. In this regard, the present study aims to explore and clarify therapists' practical implementation and preparation of OC in the post-pandemic era by developing scales. In total, 306 Taiwanese licensed therapists participated in this study and filled out the developed scales (75 males and 231 females, 246 of whom have provided OC to clients). The psychometric analysis revealed that the two scales developed in this study, the implementation of OC scale and the preparation of OC scale, have positive reliability and validity. The former consists of three factors: standardized process, presence of infrastructure, and similarity in practice, and the latter comprises two factors: intent to conduct OC and perceived benefits for clients. In addition, the results indicated that therapists who are elder, more experienced, or working in community mental health facilities showed better practical implementation and preparation of OC. Findings from this study carry useful reference for strengthening therapists' preparation for and the effectiveness of OC.

Virtual reality in Metaverse for future mental health-helping profession: an alternative solution to the mental health challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic

Currently, Metaverse has become a hot topic of conversation everywhere. Therefore, this can also be an accurate solution to the mental health challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hopefully in the future, mental health workers can make the best use of it.

Negative Impact of Telework, Job Insecurity, and Work-Life Conflict on Employee Behaviour

The COVID-19 pandemic imposed a large-scale adoption of teleworking in various fields, accepted by many employers as the ideal solution to protect their employees against the risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2. Working from home generated substantial savings for organisations and also contributed to alleviating employee stress. In addition to the potential positive effects, telework during COVID-19 favoured counterproductive behaviour, job insecurity, and intention to retire because of the negative outcomes generated by the growing conflict between personal life and working from home and professional and social isolation. The purpose of this research is to define and analyse a conceptual model capable of highlighting the way in which telework, job insecurity, and work-life conflict led to professional isolation and turnover intention, and finally, to the counterproductive behaviour of employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research was implemented using employees in Romania, an emerging European economy severely affected by the recent pandemic. The results have been analysed with the help of structural equations in SmartPLS, thus reflecting a significant influence of teleworking on work-life conflict, professional isolation, intentions, and insecurity during the pandemic. The insecurity of employees trained in teleworking contributes significantly to enhancing work-life conflict and professional isolation.

Mechanism of online emotional support accompany group for stress: The role of social support

Objective

To investigate the effect of social support on stress, and to clarify the effect and mechanism of Online Emotional Support Accompany Group (OESAG).

Methods

The group members who signed up for the public welfare project "Psychological Rehabilitation Group Psychological Service under the COVID-19 Pandemic" were divided into the treatment group, the control group, and the blank group with 37 members each. The treatment group received OESAG intervention, the control group received online time management group intervention, and the blank group was the waiting group. The three groups of subjects were synchronously tested before and after the intervention group.

Results

After the OESAG intervention, compared with the control group and the blank group, the treatment group showed that perceived social support was improved, and loneliness and stress were decreased.

Conclusion

Improving social support can effectively reduce stress. OESAG can effectively improve social support and so too decrease stress. This study could help in designing effective psychological intervention measures to reduce the degree of stress symptoms and enhance both personal and social levels of coping with stressful events.

Effective Prediction and Important Counseling Experience for Perceived Helpfulness of Social Question and Answering-Based Online Counseling: An Explainable Machine Learning Model

The social question answering based online counseling (SQA-OC) is easy access for people seeking professional mental health information and service, has become the crucial pre-consultation and application stage toward online counseling. However, there is a lack of efforts to evaluate and explain the counselors' service quality in such an asynchronous online questioning and answering (QA) format efficiently. This study applied the notion of perceived helpfulness as a public's perception of counselors' service quality in SQA-OC, used computational linguistic and explainable machine learning (XML) methods suited for large-scale QA discourse analysis to build an predictive model, explored how various sources and types of linguistic cues [i.e., Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC), topic consistency, linguistic style similarity, emotional similarity] contributed to the perceived helpfulness. Results show that linguistic cues from counselees, counselors, and synchrony between them are important predictors, the linguistic cues and XML can effectively predict and explain the perceived usefulness of SQA-OC, and support operational decision-making for counselors. Five helpful counseling experiences including linguistic styles of "talkative", "empathy", "thoughtful", "concise with distance", and "friendliness and confident" were identified in the SQA-OC. The paper proposed a method to evaluate the perceived helpfulness of SQA-OC service automatically, effectively, and explainable, shedding light on the understanding of the SQA-OC service outcome and the design of a better mechanism for SQA-OC systems.

Dynamics of Metaverse and Medicine: A Review Article

Metaverse is a relatively new concept of technological advancement for the world. Various sectors such as finance, entertainment, and communication are the forefront admirers of these innovations. Alongside these, the field of medicine has recently been on the list of metaverse-benefiting domains. Various aspects of medicine, such as educational and teaching purposes, surgical simulations, conferences and meetings, awareness programmes, research programmes, and many more, are under research. Depending on the requirement, the metaverse is a versatile platform which can be modulated accordingly, thus providing a flexible tool for medical development. In this review article, these domains are discussed in depth along with the pros and cons of the same, which positively affect the productivity of the field of medicine. All these headings have been through minimal study and experimentation, and the results obtained from them are satisfactory in terms of study. The primary purpose of the review article is to provide a suggestive statement regarding domains of the metaverse and their usage as a vital tool of operation in the future of medicine.

Factors influencing attitudes toward cyber-counseling among China's Generation Z: A structural equation model

Information technology developments have combined traditional face-to-face counseling with online- or cyber-counseling. As digital natives, Generation Z has easy access to cyber-counseling. However, their attitudes toward cyber-counseling remain unknown. This study explored these attitudes and relevant influencing factors among 1216 Chinese adolescents using self-report questionnaires. Descriptive analyses and structural equation modeling were used for data analysis. The model explained 27.7 % of the total variance, attitudes toward psychological help was the most influential, followed by attitudes toward the Internet and perceived behavioral control. The model was effective in explaining attitudes toward cyber-counseling, emphasizing the influence of attitudes toward psychological help.

Development and Evaluation: A Behavioral Activation Mobile Application for Self-Management of Stress for College Students

College students are at a high risk of mental health problems due to continuous exposure to considerable stress as they transition into adulthood. It is necessary to reflect on young people’s needs and provide brief, personalized support interventions via mobile applications. This study aimed to (1) describe the co-design development process of a behavioral activation (BA) mobile health application called MEndorphins to help youth manage stress; and (2) evaluate the ease of use and quality of the application and its effects on psychological distress. College students aged 18–25 in South Korea participated as co-designers throughout the MEndorphins development process, which involved prototyping workshops. Thirty-five students also evaluated the application’s ease of use and quality, as well as its effects on psychological distress, using a self-reported online questionnaire. In the pilot evaluation, ease of use scored 74.21 out of 100 and quality 3.72 out of 5. There were statistically significant decreases in depression, anxiety, and stress after using MEndorphins (p ≤ 0.001 for depression and anxiety, p = 0.001 for stress) for 7 days. In this developed BA based mobile application, participants could monitor their mood, plan stress self-management strategies, and gain motivation by sharing experiences.

Fear of COVID-19 and its Differential Effect on Attitudes and Intentions towards Online and Face-to-Face Counseling

The present study examines the impact of fear of COVID-19 on attitudes and intentions towards online and face-to-face counseling. A total of 526 adults participated in this study. The path analysis results indicated that attitude towards online and face-to-face counseling differentially mediated the relationship between COVID-19 fear and both counseling intentions, even when controlling for other covariates. Specifically, fear of COVID-19 predicted positive attitudes towards online counseling (value of counseling), which in turn, predicted online counseling intention. On the other hand, COVID-19 fear affected negative attitudes towards face-to-face counseling (discomfort with counseling), resulting in a decrease in face-to-face counseling intention.

Online versus face-to-face metacognitive educational counseling program on anxiety and meta-worry in women with a history of miscarriage: A randomized clinical trial

BACKGROUND

In the COVID-19 outbreak, women with a history of miscarriage need more mental health. Anxiety and meta-worry as consequences of miscarriage, besides concerns due to pregnancy during coronavirus, show the necessity of appropriate online and face-to-face educational counseling. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of online metacognitive educational counseling versus face-to-face method on anxiety and meta-worry in these women.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this randomized clinical trial, 80 women with a history of miscarriage, anxiety, and meta-worry referred to Imam Jafar Sadegh hospital (labor, women ward and women clinic), Meybod, Iran, were selected conveniently and randomly assigned into two groups (n = 20/each). The participants received 8-session metacognitive educational counseling package online or face-to-face. Data were collected by Beck Anxiety Inventory, Wellz meta-worry questionnaire at baseline, week eight, and follow up as primary outcomes and analyzed via SPSS software (Anova and Repeated measure statistic tests).

RESULTS

Anxiety in the 12^th week (online group 13.75 ± 3.59 vs. face to face 18.25 ± 5.91, P = 0.04) was statistical significantly less than baseline (respectively 22.15 ± 5.67 vs. 22.35 ± 4.93, P = 0.56); with fewer anxiety scores in the online group. Meta-worry in the 12^th week (online group 11.90 ± 2.59 vs. face to face 15.70 ± 4.06, P = 0.03) was statistically significant compared to baseline (respectively 17.15 ± 2.70 vs. 18.50 ± 3.47, P = 0.36); with fewer meta-worry scores in the online group. Belief about worry in 12^th week (online group 66.50 ± 14.60 vs. face to face 78.45 ± 9.27, P = 0.01) was statistical significantly less than baseline (respectively 85.50 ± 8.87 vs. 86.05 ± 8.85, P = 0.96); with less score of belief about worry in the online group.

CONCLUSION

Online and face-to-face metacognitive educational counseling methods decreased anxiety, meta-worry, and belief about worry in women with miscarriage. But online educational counseling was more effective. Distance online counseling in COVID-19 can help the mental health of women with miscarriage.

Burnout and resilience during the COVID-19 outbreak: differences between male and female students

This research aims to determine the burnout levels of male and female students on the three subscales of Exhaustion (EX), Cynicism (CY), and Professional Efficacy (PE) and their resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a non-experimental quantitative, descriptive, and cross-sectional research conducted on students of Riau University. The snowball sampling method was used to obtain data from 131 students consisting of 69 female and 62 male through the distribution of an online questionnaire and analyzed using the independent sample t-test and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. The data distribution showed that burnout on the PE, EX, CY, and resilience is in the high, moderate, and low categories, respectively.

The data analysis showed that the burnout variable for the PE and EX indicators in female was higher than for men. Meanwhile, male's CY and resilience indicators were higher than female. This indicates significant differences in burnout and resilience between male and female during the pandemic. The results also showed that there is no correlation between PE and resilience as well as CY and resilience, while EX and resilience show a correlation. This finding shows the psychological condition of students in using distance learning during the pandemic. There is a need for strategies to be implemented to reduce the impact of the pandemic on students for better mental health.

Adhoc Setup of an Online Mental Health Self-Help Program During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Description of the Development and Implementation Processes and Analysis of Its Users’ and Usage Profiles

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic hit Austria in March 2020. This led to a considerable reduction in outpatient psychiatric therapies. People with mental disorders as well as with newly emerging mental health issues found themselves with very limited treatment options. Within only a few days our hospital set up an online mental health self-help program which went online in its first version on the first day of the lockdown in Austria. The process of this development and implementation process alongside with the user’s and usage data for the program are presented here.

Methods

A small core team initiated the development of the program on a low-budget basis and using mostly freely available digital resources. The program had to be free of costs for its users and easy to navigate. Each self-help module contains a text description of the topic, a self-rating questionnaire and several psychoeducational 2–5 min videos. These videos explain, e.g., interactions of mental stress and the immune system or the vicious circle of anxiety. Additional videos provide easy to learn techniques like breathing and relaxation exercises.

Results

We illustrate the implementation of this program following the replicating effective program (REP) model. We provide a detailed description of the implementation process starting from a simple website to a smartphone-based application with registered user area and instantaneous reporting of self-rating questionnaire results to users. The described process could be used as a model for the setup of similar programs in a very short time. As an indicator of acceptance, we report 46,100 unique video views and 3,937 completed questionnaires in the first year of use. The most accessed videos were those on anxiety, relaxation and resilience. Analysis of the sociodemographic user data indicate that they were mostly young (&lt; 45 years; 59.7%), females (77.5%) and previously mentally healthy individuals (74.5%). An example of the collected psychometric questionnaire data over time is given.

Conclusion

We show that it is possible to set up an online mental health self-help program ad hoc and without extensive prior planning, which enabled us to dynamically respond to a new situation. We are now planning on keeping the program active for a longer period of time to supplement and expand traditional treatment settings also outside the COVID-19 pandemic.

Assessing the Efficacy of Contextualized Group Counseling Education in Asia: A Mixed Methods Study

Many experiential learning teaching models are developed in Western cultures, with their efficacy not tested in non-Western cultures, especially in counseling education. This study examined the learning experiences of students (n = 52) enrolled in a culturally contextualized experiential teaching method implemented across a 3-year period in a Malaysian university Masters-level group counseling course. The course changes included group demonstrations by lecturers and peers, live group participation and observation, group dynamics map drawing and debriefing, paired group proposal writing and presentation, and group note- taking. This study adopted a mixed method approach with a short survey consisting of both standardized scales and open-ended questions, administered at the beginning and end of each 12-week semester. Archival data on students' evaluation was also retrieved from the year before the intervention, to compare with the 3 years of intervention. Results showed a statistically significant improvement in students' perceived group leadership skills and leadership characteristics at the end of the course. Students' overall satisfaction with the course quality also improved significantly from the year prior to the implementation of the new teaching method. Qualitative coding identified three major themes-active learning classroom that led to confidence in group counseling knowledge and skills; experiential activities in the tutorial sessions, with opportunities to carry out their proposed group activities; and formative feedback given throughout the semester during tutorial settings contributing to the higher course satisfaction rate. To conclude, we discuss the implications of contextualized experiential learning for higher education counseling pedagogy in the Asian region.

Supplementary information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10447-022-09471-3.

The reality of E-counseling services in the light of Digital learning from the point of View of Teachers in Jordan

This study aims to investigate the reality of e-counseling services in the light of digital learning from the perspective of teachers in Jordan. The sample of the study consisted of (348) male and female teachers at Rusaifa Education Directorate in 2021. The scale of the counseling services for this study was created by the researchers, where the validity and reliability of the scale were approved, and the appropriate statistical procedures were used. The study reached some statistical results regarding e-counseling services in the light of digital learning from the perspective of teachers in Jordan. Results revealed that the arithmetic averages of the reality of e-counseling services have an intermediate degree at the overall level, and each dimension has an intermediate degree, too. The prevention dimension took the first place, followed by the social dimension, the moral dimension, the professional dimension, the educational dimension, and lastly, the technical dimension, respectively. The results revealed that there are no statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α ≤ 0.05) at the overall level. The level of each dimension of the scale is attributed to the variables of gender and one's years of experience.

Improving University Students' Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence From an Online Counseling Intervention in Italy

Background

The mental health of university students is significantly affected when faced with public health emergencies and requires specific interventions to help support and prevent any long-lasting effects that the pandemic may have on their mental health status. This study aims to evaluate the impact of an online individual counseling intervention provided by the University of Foggia and carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health status of a sample of university students.

Methods

32 Italian undergraduate students took part in a one-group pretest-posttest research design. The data was gathered in two times: before the start of the counseling intervention (T1), positive and negative affect, satisfaction with life, global mental distress, anxiety, stress, and future time perspective were collected, at the end of the counseling intervention (T2), the same dimensions were measured. A one-way repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was performed, and single Bonferroni-corrected dependent t-tests were conducted on variables showing a significant change over time.

Results

The results showed that positive affect, subjective well-being, and future time perspective increased significantly after the intervention. In contrast, the participants reported significantly lower levels of negative affect, global mental distress, state and trait anxiety, as well as perceived stress over time.

Conclusions

The study demonstrates the promising impact of online counseling intervention and its efficient contribution in promoting the well-being of university students. The results contribute to the ongoing debate concerning the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young adults, helping professionals develop more efficient clinical and psychological interventions.

Precursors of Openness to Provide Online Counseling: The Role of Future Thinking, Creativity, and Innovative Behavior of Future Online Therapists

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for online counseling to preserve therapeutic processes that have begun face to face and to provide service to others in need during lockdowns. Previous studies underscored the importance of providing updated training as counselors frequently hesitate to use technological advances in therapeutic sessions. This study aims at reducing such barriers by revealing personal characteristics of future professionals that might inhibit or encourage their openness toward providing online counseling. To this end, this study is focused on several precursors of openness to provide online counseling: preference to communicate emotions online, identification of emotional expressiveness advantages in providing online counseling, innovative behavior, creativity, and future problem-solving thinking skills. The question at focus is which constructs would be found contributive to students' openness to provide online counseling. The sample included 277 undergraduate students (future counselors) who filled out questionnaires. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. Our findings pointed to the centrality of students' preference to communicate their emotions online in explaining their openness to conducting online counseling. This study might help pinpointing the adjustments curriculum designers should address to better reflect the intensive changes within the counseling field that necessitate transferring face-to-face skills to online settings.

"Rapid Counseling" as a new breakthrough: An alternative approach for patients with COVID-19

In this paper, I report on/show that the important of "rapid counseling" for patients with COVID-19 during this pandemic. These matters are studied based on the latest theory and research results, which are related to the current situation, namely the COVID-19 outbreak.

Risk perception, social distancing, and distress during COVID-19 pandemic: Exploring the role of online counseling and perceived social support

The study explored the relationship between social distancing and distress along with risk factors of social distancing. Further, online counseling/mental health services and perceived social support were tested as possible moderators between social distancing and distress. Valid and reliable measures were used to collect the data from 300 Indian respondents. Process use of social networking platforms was found to significantly explain social distancing. Online counseling/mental health services and perceived social support moderated the relationship between social distancing and distress. Only 16% of the respondents used online mental health services during the study period. Lack of awareness and acceptance of these services were major barriers.

In the same boat? An online group career counseling with a group of young adults in the time of COVID-19

An online group of career counseling for unemployed young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic was developed. Twelve participants were involved in online group career counseling intervention, based on the Life Design for an inclusive and sustainable future. Results indicated at post-test on increased scores on career adaptability, resilience, future orientation, and propensity to identify inclusive and sustainable actions for the future than pre-test. Overall, the online group career counseling intervention effectively promoted particular aspects of young adults' life design for an inclusive e-sustainable future.

'Rapid Counseling' with single-session therapy for patients with COVID-19: An alternative treatment before doing mental health self-care strategy with meditation

The author suggests that mental health experts provide 'rapid counseling' as psychological help for individuals who need counseling in this COVID-19 outbreak, as one of the steps to be taken to get rid of this national and global crisis, in particular for patients with COVID-19.

Music as a Healing Medicine in COVID-19 Pandemic

This article presents that the use of music like "A Prayer for Nation" during the COVID-19 outbreak is an alternative healing medicine helping people to reduce their loneliness, depression, stress, and anxiety. In a multicultural, pluralistic country like Indonesia, this song has the pastoral power to uplift, unite, and heal.

"When the first session may be the last!": A case report of the implementation of "rapid tele-psychotherapy" with single-session music therapy in the COVID-19 outbreak

Objective

Conventional psychotherapy with a lengthy and regular number of meetings is no longer relevant in the case of COVID-19, when persons with psychiatric problems, especially COVID-19 patients/clients, really require immediate psychological assistance. It is recognized as a “rapid test” in the field of body health to rapidly decide whether or not a person is affected by COVID-19. So, we should now be able to use the term “rapid tele-psychotherapy” with Single-Session Music Therapy (SSMT) in the field of mental health to characterize the mechanism of assistance provided to persons who seek therapeutic assistance virtually during this COVID-19 outbreak, so that they will easily and reliably be freed from troubling psychiatric issues.

Method

The author reports the case of a 33-year-old widow with asymptomatic COVID-19 who was admitted to her own home.

Results

The author describes the effectiveness of the implementation of rapid tele-psychotherapy with SSMT in reducing the scale of anxiety, panic, fear, depression, acute stress, insomnia, and delusions of death.

Significance of results

This case can provide new inputs or ideas for counselors/psychologists/psychiatrists/therapists who work in hospitals/institutions to provide rapid tele-psychotherapy with SSMT as therapeutic assistance for individuals who need psychotherapy in this COVID-19 outbreak, especially for COVID-19 patients/clients. Besides that, this concept is not only suitable for rapidly screening individuals that may face psychological problems and helping them better seek therapeutic assistance, but can also be used as an adjuvant therapy for psychiatric patients.

Review about Online Educational Guidance during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected almost every area of our lives. It meant a break from our lifestyles, transforming everything from face-to-face to online. Among the places where this situation has become more evident are primary schools, secondary schools, and universities, which have had to adopt online teaching in its entirety. Faced with this situation, the work of the educational counsellors was essential to coordinate the centre with the families and to enable students to follow the classes in the best way possible. The objective of this study is to analyse the scientific literature about online educational guidance, with a focus on the COVID-19 pandemic. To achieve this, a scoping review inspired by the PRISMA model was done. A total of 42 articles were studied. The main results show that many counsellors were at a disadvantage and in a very stressful situation, as they did not have the necessary digital training. On the other hand, this situation has been the first contact for many counsellors with the use of ICT within their profession and in an unexpected situation, without time for training or enough preparation.

Perceived parenting styles, thinking styles, and gender on the career decision self-efficacy of adolescents: how & why?

Career decision self-efficacy (CDSE), i.e., the ability to successfully make important career-related decisions, is influenced by perceived parenting styles, thinking styles, and gender. Thus, this non-experimental study examined the effects of these factors on the CDSE of 617 high school students in Jakarta, Indonesia. According to the measuring instruments (CDSE Scale-Short Form, Parental Authority Questionnaire, and Thinking and Styles Inventory-Revised II), the adolescents' CDSE was influenced by the authoritative and permissive parenting styles, and three types of thinking styles. Moreover, the thinking styles mediated the relationship between the perceived parenting styles and CDSE, while gender acted as a homologizer.