For me it was, the first time totally effective. This time it was to an extent. It gave that person to talk to between sessions with a counselor. I guess it depends on what you need. The first time was my sole source of counseling by email and that worked out very well. The second was kind of like a forum between the counselor and myself, and she was like a booster support. She was actually more supportive than the f2f counselor.