WebChat counselling is a type of counselling that provides emotional support, information and ideas for tackling parenting challenges using real-time text communication over the internet. It’s similar to Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp except that you need to login through the Parentline website.

WebChat counselling happens in real time. Because of this, it can still feel like a conversation and the counsellor can still ask detailed questions and understand your situation. Some people like WebChat counselling because they can take their time to think about and type their responses.

However, WebChat is slower than telephone counselling, so less is covered in a session. Sometimes talking via text can lead to misunderstandings because it’s harder to explain things over text. But WebChat can be a helpful first step to talk about what you’re going through and look at some options which may help improve the issue or situation.

Please also keep in mind that there may be a queue for WebChat and sometimes you might have to wait before connecting with a counsellor.