Thanks to technology, people can visit their therapist's office without leaving home.

North Way Counseling Services now offers Tele-Therapy sessions through Skype, a software program that allows users to make free telephone calls over the Internet. Clients can talk to a professional, master's-level therapist face-to-face by turning on a Web cam.

"Our mission is to reach as many people as we can," says Marc Hutchison, director of North Way Counseling Services. "We know there are a lot of people out there who need counseling, but, for the elderly especially, they can't get out."

The staff is trained to handle a number of personal and family issues, including eating disorders, sexual, physical and emotional abuse, drug and alcohol addiction, autism, marriage reunification, depression, and anxiety. Sessions last 50 minutes and can be booked in the morning, afternoon or evening.

Most counselors are stationed at North Way's Pine headquarters, while others are located at the satellite office in Oakland. Debra Myers Simpson, a specialist in Dialectic Behavior Therapy, is a North Way Christian Community member who now lives in Colorado.

Skype transports her across the country into a patient's living room.

Hutchison says the trend is catching on, especially at the Oakland campus, where students from area universities are working out issues in the privacy of their dorm rooms.

The service is also convenient for people who work 9-to-5 jobs.

"If someone's at work and they can't really break free, they can close their office door and get online," he explains.

To begin Tele-Therapy, participants need a high-speed Internet connection, such as DSL or cable; a Web cam; and Skype, which is available for free download at www.skype.com.

Even folks who don't have a Web cam -- which can be purchased for $20 or less -- can utilize the audio component of the program.

After the technical elements are in place, clients call Intake Coordinator Debbie Uhler, who will set up an appointment for a $50 fee. Hutchison, who himself is a counselor, does the initial assessment.

And then the healing begins.

Hutchison learned about Tele-Therapy last fall during an American Association of Christian Counselors conference in Nashville, Tenn. Ministries at North Way Christian Community were already using Skype to keep in contact with mission workers in foreign lands.

In April 9007, while working in Turkey, Hutchison used the new technology to meet his newborn daughter. His wife simply held the baby up to the Web cam.

"It really is the wave of the future," he says.

"It's a great way to communicate."

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For more information, visit www.northwaycounseling.org. To set up an appointment to speak to a counselor, contact Debbie Uhler at 724-935-6803, ext. 1201.

North Way Counseling Services is located at 12121 Perry Highway, Wexford.