No doubt your child knows they can come to you or someone at school when something's bothering them, but the reality is more and more kids are seeking help online or through telephone counselling. It makes sense, as the world has become a more stressful place to grow up in, and cyberspace has become their second home.

Today, one in 10 adolescents suffers from anxiety, 160,000 young people are living with depression, and countless other young Australians have been the victim of cyberbullying.

Who can they go to, and what sort of help will they receive?

Online, kids can choose the type of help they need, when they need it. For example, Kids Helpline offers telephone counselling, web counselling (a real-time, one-to-one chat with a professional counsellor) or email counselling, where the young person sends an email and receives a response. The 6,000 kids a week who use these services mostly do so out of hours, when other services would be closed.

Kids Helpline has found that kids choose different types of counselling for different issues. Online counselling is where they go to for emotional or behavioural issues, mental health issues, self-image issues, and eating and weight disorders. When faced with a crisis, or urgent issues like drug and alcohol problems, bullying, pregnancy and homelessness, young people seek support through telephone helplines.

Through CounsellingOnline, kids and adults can communicate with a professional counsellor about an alcohol or drug-related concern, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The service is free for anyone seeking help with their own drug use or the drug use of a family member or friend. They can stay anonymous or register with the service for ongoing support.

Anna Frayne is a clinical psychologist with the Butterfly Foundation, a charitable organisation that supports people suffering from eating disorders. She says the foundation's helpline and online services offer a crucial first step for people with eating disorders to approach counselling.

Sufferers are "often very secretive about their eating and weight control behaviours, and commonly experience strong feelings of shame or guilt about their eating habits," Anna says. They are therefore more likely to seek online help because it's non-threatening, accessible and potentially anonymous.

Online help isn't just about counselling. Sometimes kids just want to know that they're not the only one in the world with this problem, and need the support of other people like them.

The Reach Out website focuses on helping young people to live happier lives, with tools and support to help them build resilience and "reach out" when they need help.

Through the site, kids can find information and fact sheets on alcohol and drugs, family and relationship difficulties, loss and grief, sex and pregnancy, and other important issues. They can view video stories about these key subjects, become involved in online conversations and access emergency help for themselves or a friend in crisis.

For young Australians living with health problems or a disability, online support can be more important than face-to-face communication and telephone services.

Livewire, part of the Starlight Children's Foundation, provides free and safe online communities for families affected by a serious illness, chronic health condition or disability. 

Recent research conducted by Murdoch University's Centre for Everyday Life (CEL), on behalf of Livewire, indicates that online technologies can better enable young Australians to feel socially connected, with a sense of belonging.

The researchers discovered that young Australians living with a serious illness, chronic health condition or disability are more likely to be attached to their laptop computer than their mobile phone, particularly as many Livewire members are either hospitalised or housebound. 

Remind your child that the school counsellor is also a good person to talk to, and that their privacy will be protected. (If the school has serious concerns that a child aged under 16 is at risk of harm, the school is required by law to report their concerns to the Department of Community Services.)

Also show your child this list of support services, to give them the option of seeking help outside their school or family:

• Kids Helpline - Phone 1800 55 1800 - 24-hour telephone and online counselling for 5- to 25-year-olds. The majority of problems relate to family relationships. Kids Helpline counsellors are fully qualified professionals who undergo additional accredited training at Kids Helpline. Kids can request either a female or male counsellor.
• Counselling Online - Phone 1800 88 8236 - Free, professional alcohol and drug counselling online 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Provides support for alcohol and other drug users, and others affected by alcohol and drug use in the community, including family members and friends.
• Headspace - Online fact sheets, videos and stories, as well as 30 youth-friendly, accessibleheadspace centres across Australia. Professional support with mental health issues, general health, mental health and counselling, alcohol and other drug services, education and employment issues. Search database of 7,000 health and community services.
• Reach Out - Information, support and resources to help young people improve their understanding of mental health issues, develop resilience, and increase their coping skills and help-seeking behaviour. A project of the Inspire Foundation.
• The Butterfly Foundation - Phone 02 9412 4499 - Confidential and supportive counselling service for eating disorder sufferers and their families and friends, during business hours. Support is also available via email at support@thebutterflyfoundation.org.au
• Youth Beyondblue - Great fact sheets on anxiety, depression, drugs and alcohol, self-harm issues, bullying, eating disorders and contact information for your nearest general practitioners, counsellors and psychologists.

The next edition of School Parents will feature online sites where parents can go to for help and support.