Christian Counseling / Counselling
               Inner Healing
         Art & Play Therapy

1-800-461-7173   ~   519-624-1001

800# works only from 519/905/416 area codes

Online & Phone counseling / counselling link below

Offices in:  Cambridge, Mississauga & Grimsby (Ontario, Canada)

Our "Resources" link below contains many articles, books & links that may be of interest

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Online Audio

counseling / counselling

 

    If you live in any country other than Canada or the U.S. & would like to have free audio for counseling sessions then "Online Audio" would be the only way to do this, as we only cover the long distance phone counseling costs for Canada & the US.

    Online audio can be as good as or even better than the quality of sound on a telephone but you may need to have some degree of the following to achieve this: a good headset/microphone, a fast enough computer, enough RAM, & perhaps high speed internet. If you're OK with the sound quality being a bit less than the phone then you can get by with much less of each of these things. If you already use online audio with friends & family & are satisfied with your sound quality then it will also be fine for online audio counseling..

    In order to have quality audio, it would be wise to purchase a headset / microphone that plugs into your computer rather than relying on your computer's external speakers. The quality of the audio will of course also be affected by the quality of the headset/microphone that you purchase. Those that plug into the USB port on your computer probably offer better quality sound, as USB connections will not slow down the audio transmission from the internet to your computer (as some sound cards might). We have put links to the 2 headsets/microphones (Plantronics 90 & 60) that Skype recommends, further down this page.

    In order to use Online audio with us you will need to download Skype (free). You'll then be able to speak with us online for free via Skype (which is owned & operated by ebay as is PayPal).

    Skype lists it's minimum system requirements for audio as a 400 MHz computer processor with a dial-up internet connection. However, they recommend a 1GHz computer processor & a broadband (cable, DSL) internet connection in order to experience the best sound quality possible & to take advantage of all of their advanced features.

    The beauty about using Skype is not just that it's free & top quality. Live Type Chat Instant Messaging, File transfers, audio & video are all automatically encrypted in your computer by Skype before they're sent onto the internet & then automatically decrypted in the receiving person's computer by Skype after being transferred from the internet. In this way all communication is private & confidential & cannot be intercepted. We know of no other service, besides Skype/Festoon, that encrypts audio & video. It's also a system in which Windows, Linux, Mac & other platforms can communicate with one another (except in video at present).

    Please make sure you have successfully tested your Skype download & audio equipment before making an online appointment (not necessary for Phone or email counseling).

    When you download Skype, be sure to click "Save" rather than "Open", write down the full file name it will be stored under in your computer, & where it's being stored in your computer. Once downloaded click the "Start" button in the lower left corner of your computer screen, then click the word "Search" in your pop-up list (in Windows it has a magnifying glass beside it), then type in the file full file name you copied down for the Skype download, then double click the Skype file name in the list your computer eventually takes you to as a result of your "Search". Then walk through the steps popping up on your computer screen of uploading Skype onto your computer, registering a "Contact Name" for yourself with Skype, & clicking yes to put the Skype icon on your computer screen.

    If it didn't work, you must not have done one or more of these steps, or more likely not written down the full file name it's stored under in your computer, so just download it again from the Skype website & do or write down what you missed the first time. Not a problem if it takes two or three times to get it right.

    It would probably be wise to print off onto a printer the Skype instructions for a number of tasks you'll be doing with Skype. The 2 indexes are at "How to Use Skype" & "Visual & Text Guides". Print out  the "Download" link before you walk through the download process I've typed out above, as it's best to combine the two.

    We've provided an additional page of instructions for setting up & testing out the audio of your headset/microphone, both in your computer itself & also online with Skype. It's some personal comments regarding what we found was helpful in working through the various steps of applying Skype's above "How to Use Skype" & "Visual & Text Guides".

    To book an appointment, click onto "Booking Appointments", choose either Steve or Heidi & click onto either the "email counseling" or "online & phone counseling" link. You will then be able to purchase 15, 30 or 50 minutes of email counseling, or browse the available dates in a particular month & then purchase whichever day & appointment time suits you best.

    Thank you for considering using us to help you.

 

Description of Amazon links & their Shipping rates is further down this page

 

.com US$ Plantronics Audio 90 Multimedia Stereo PC Headset

                 Plantronics Audio 60 Stereo PC Headset

 

.co.uk GBP Plantronics Skype-ready Audio 90 Hi-fi PC Headset

                    Plantronics Skype-ready Audio 60 Stereo PC Headset

 

Amazon links (above) & Shipping rates

1. Clicking onto any of the links above will not commit you to buying anything. It will merely enable you to peruse & compare the different new & used prices for this item from the different Amazon sellers (called "Marketplace"). You will be able to click onto your "Back" button (upper left of your monitor) a few times to exit the Amazon site & get back to our website, without being committed to buying anything.

2. In order to purchase anything, you will need to click onto an additional "Add to Shopping Cart" button, then click onto "Proceed to checkout", & then give your credit card information. You can add as many items as you wish to your Amazon cart (even from different pages in our website), before finalizing your purchase by clicking the "Proceed to checkout" button & entering your credit card information. There is a "delete" button under each item you add to the "Shopping Cart" with which you can immediately or later delete it from your shopping cart if you wish.

3. Amazon has a secure encrypted (https) payment section of their web site so credit card purchases from them are safe. You pay Amazon alone & then Amazon pays their "Marketplace" sellers, so your credit card information goes only to Amazon, not to any of the "Marketplace" sellers. It's a good system.

4. Canadian $ (CDN$) links are in the pictured boxes above. United States $ (US$), & United Kingdom pounds (GBP) links to the same headsets are given as "text" links below the pictured boxes.

5. In the pictured boxes above, clicking onto the "Buy from ..." button will take you to the new price of this item when bought directly from Amazon. Clicking onto the "Best Price" link, above the "Buy from ..." button in the pictured box, will show you all of the varied new & used prices for this item from the different Amazon sellers (called "Marketplace"). Generally the "Best Price" link is the better way to go as it also includes a listing of Amazon's new price for the item (you will be able to find Amazon's new price listing by checking who the seller is for each listing).

6. Clicking onto the "title" link of the item in the pictured boxes above (above the "Best Price" link) will enable you to read a description of the item, & sometimes product reviews of it by different people. There will also be a "View product details" link at the top of the "Best Price" listings page, which will take you to the same description/product reviews page.

7. Amazon sets a fixed price for the shipping costs they or any listed "Marketplace" seller can charge, regardless where the listed seller is shipping the item from. Amazon itself however, charges a bit lower shipping rate than it requires it's "Marketplace" sellers to charge. More importantly, for the purchase of more than one item, Amazon charges a much lower shipping rate for each additional item, whereas "Marketplace" sellers charge their fixed shipping rate multiplied by the number of items you purchase. Amazon's multiple item discount in shipping can therefore sometimes outweigh the benefit of choosing the lowest "Marketplace" price.

8. Amazon also offers Free Super Saver "Domestic" shipping if you live in Canada for .ca purchases, live in the US for .com purchases, or live in the United Kingdom for .co.uk purchases, & if you buy directly from Amazon (not from the varied "Marketplace" sellers), & your total order's value is higher than $39.00 CDN, $25.00 US, or 15 GBP. This can often outweigh the benefit of choosing the lowest "Marketplace" price.

9. The Amazon shipping rates are : (1) .ca (CDN$) to Domestic, United States, Western Europe, Japan & SE Asia, Rest of World, Customs; (2) .com (US$) to Domestic, International, Customs; (3) .co.uk (GBP) to Domestic, Western Europe, North America, Japan, Rest of World, Customs.

10. The Amazon "Marketplace" shipping rates are : (1) .ca (CDN$) shipping rates, Customs; (2) .com (US$) shipping rates, Customs; (3) .co.uk (GBP) shipping rates, countries covered, Customs.

 

Who we are : MSW MDiv 20+ years counseling experience

Please feel free to book Online & Phone counseling appointments as an alternative to our Office appointments

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