What online counselling is actually like
By Garima Agarwal, A Safe Place 5 min read
Most people who write to me have never spoken to a counsellor before, and the picture in their head comes from films: a couch, a notebook, a stranger deciding what is wrong with them. Online counselling is far more ordinary than that, and knowing the shape of it in advance takes away a surprising amount of the nervousness.
How a session actually runs
You book a time, and you receive a private video link. At that time you join from wherever you are — a bedroom, a locked office cabin, a parked car. We talk for about an hour. There is no form to fill in beforehand and no report at the end. I usually spend the first few minutes explaining how sessions work and answering anything you want to ask, and then we simply begin where you want to begin.
The conversation is led by you. Some days that means working through a specific situation step by step. Other days it means saying out loud, to someone who is not involved in your life, something you have been carrying for months. Both are a complete use of the hour.
What privacy looks like in practice
What you say stays between us. Nothing is shared with your family, your partner or your workplace, and I do not record sessions. In an Indian household, though, privacy is often less about policy and more about walls, so it helps to plan for it: pick a time when the house is quieter, use headphones, and let people assume you are on a call. If you are worried about being overheard, tell me at the start and we will keep the conversation to a volume and pace that works.
What you need at your end
- A phone or laptop with a working camera and microphone
- A stable enough internet connection — audio-only is fine if the video drops
- Headphones, if there are people around
- About an hour where you will not be interrupted
Who it suits well
Online counselling works well if travel, work hours or living in a smaller town makes a clinic visit difficult, and it works well if the idea of being seen walking into a counsellor's office is itself part of what has stopped you. It also suits people who find it easier to speak honestly from their own space than in an unfamiliar room.
It is not the right fit for everything. If you are in immediate danger, or if what you are living with needs medical or psychiatric care, in-person help and emergency services come first. If that is what is going on, I will say so honestly rather than keep you in sessions that cannot give you what you need.
Starting is smaller than it looks
At A Safe Place all sessions are online, between 10 AM – 6 PM, by appointment. You do not need to explain everything in your first message — a line saying you would like to talk is enough. Write to garima.vd1503@gmail.com or call +91 73195 30355 and we will find a time.