After completing this course, participants should be able to:
• Understand the effect of the anonymity of online or telephone counseling on the information people will share.
• Understand how parents must be involved in their underage child’s online counseling work.
• Understand what a clinician must do if a client breaches the confidentiality rules laid out in the initial counseling contract.
Description:
Online therapy and counseling have become increasingly common over the past several years. Face to face or telephone forms of counselling are still the norm, recent times have witnessed an explosive growth in online mental health services, including email-based counselling, chat-based counselling, video-based counselling, and online self-help groups. Plus texting! These online services have been utilized both as a stand-alone method of treatment or as an adjunct to traditional counselling. The area of risk we will be discussing in this interview concerns challenges for confidentiality and security of client information. Despite continual upgrades to technology, there are always breaches to technology where unauthorized individuals can intercept wireless signals and compromise what is thought to be secure information.
Keywords: Ethics, HIPAA, digital security, confidentiality
Approval Bodies:
Professional Development
Florida Dept. of Health (Board of Social Work, Marriage & Family, Mental Health Counseling)
NAADAC, National Association for Addiction Professionals
National Board for Certified Counselors
Florida Board of Nursing
Association of Social Work Boards Approved Continuing Education (ACE)
California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals (CCAPP)
CAADE - California Association for Alcohol/Drug Educators
Pennsylvania Certification Board
Florida Board of Psychology
California Board of Registered Nursing
California Association of DUI Treatment Programs (CADTP)
