Over the past 20 years, the mental health community has gradually come to view online therapy as a promising adjunct to traditional therapeutic methods. Online therapy is defined broadly as conducting counselling services over the Internet. In order to distinguish the various types of online therapeutic modalities, Evans (2009) defines online communications conducted in real time as synchronous, and online communication conducted where there is a delayed reaction, as asynchronous. The term “online” covers a number of methods including e-mail, chat-rooms, video and other forms of web-based applications (APPS). Although acceptance of online therapy is not universal, enough practitioners have begun using computer-mediated communication to warrant the IACP to introduce guidelines for an online approach (IACP, 2017), as have their UK (BACP, 2009) and USA (APA, 2013) counterparts.

This article focuses primarily on specific issues relating to generic video applications since many of the difficulties and challenges first associated with online therapy have been eliminated by the pace of change with the evolving technologies. This article critically evaluates a review of literature on online therapy from a business perspective and considers the legal, ethical and professional practice requirements from a person-centred perspective.