I’ve been considering acquiring an iPad for some time now.  As I was doing some research I came across a number of counselling-related apps for smartphones and iPads.

I thought I would share two of the apps that stood out for me. 

The first app was recommended by four different counselling websites so I decided to try it out.  Breathe2relax is a stress management app and it’s free.  You gotta like free.  I downloaded it to my phone and started using it.  I like the way the designers have structured it. It’s easy to use.  If you are unfamiliar with how to do effective belly breathing [to use their term] there’s a video that demonstrates how to do it.  Before you begin a breathing exercise you are asked to rate how stressed/relaxed you are.  You can personalize the music and visuals and you can adjust the length of inhalations and exhalations to suit your own rhythm.  Finally, there’s a body scanner where you can learn how stress affects different areas of your body.  I will definitely be sharing this one with my clients. 

The second one is– Traxitall.- a goal setting, motivational, habits building, all-in-one daily log/tracking system (to use the designers’ words).   The cost for this one is $1.99.  Not bad.  It’s easy to use and follows the SMART approach to goal setting.   For each goal you are tracking you get three choices about how to track your progress.  There is a screen where you can enter your daily progress and a goal bar that shows you how close you are to achieving your goal.  One feature that appeals to me is you can use this app to track multiple goals. Again, I would recommend it to clients. 

I looked at other apps that track one’s mood or assist people to deal with depression, anxiety or OCD.  The jury’s out on those at the moment.  My main concern is privacy and confidentiality.  Not so much from the point of view of purchasing one of them.    Rather – what happens if a client loses a phone or tablet on which these apps are installed?  Or what if a friend or colleague sees what the client is doing when they are tracking their symptoms?  I imagine, that in addition to the basic security features, there are other measures one can take to protect one’s privacy.  So, I will do more investigation into the subject and get back to you.

 Dawn M. Schell, MA, CCC, CCDP is an affiliate of Worldwide Therapy Online Inc.  http://www.therapyonline.ca

*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA