Online counseling ethical concerns

Online counseling ethical concerns

1 ) What role do you see technology playing in the substance abuse field of counseling

Technology has become very important aspect of all kind of treatments and therapies . It has provided an effective platform when it comes to information sharing and data management . It has provided an effective tool of communication . In the cases like substance abuse among teenagers and young people , the role of professionals becomes important to understand the reasons and causes of substance abuse . Substance abuse counseling is one of the areas where online

counseling has been very successful . People involve in substance abuse usually fear to discuss their problem with anyone . The virtual platform helps them to deal with their inner conflict without any fear in mind . The counselor can encourage substance abuser for the person-to-person counseling sessions The problem of initial hesitation can be dealt effectively with online counseling

2 ) What are some of the ethical considerations that must be addressed when working with technology in helping environments

There are various ethical considerations for using technology in helping environment . The first among the same is confidentiality . Therapist should use technology from a location where no one else is reading or writing the messages of person seeking help . All the details of patients should be kept secured and confidential and no one else should have access to information without consent of patient . Counselor should only deal with the patients for whom they have license whether it is case specific or location specific . Another issue is related to the verification of patients ' details as well as the counselors ' details Patients should get enough information or link to some credential website or institution from where he can verify the professional credentials of counselor . Similarly , patient should provide necessary details about his age , sex and other information relevant to the legal regulatory and professional counseling frameworks

3 ) Identify two ethical challenges that you may encounter using technology . What recommendations do you have

Two ethical challenges that I may encounter using technology will be authentication of the online service provider or receiver and confidentiality of information . As a patient , I would be concerned about whether the website I am referring is authenticated or not . The professional integration would be one of the areas of concerns . One of ethical dilemma can come with some new patients for online counseling coming from outside my geographical area and their problems are my area of expertise . In such case , I would give those references of online counselors available in their location and request them to use their services

On the other hand , as a professional I would be concerned about the information provided by patient . It is very difficult to find out whether the person receiving the counseling session is actually patient or not . To ensure that I am dealing with the same person , I would like to keep record of my previous conversations and before starting counseling session I would repeat or recall some points of the previous session...