Ethical issues involved in online counseling

✍ Scribed by William Ross

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 143 KB
• Volume: 2
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 2041-8418
• DOI: 10.1002/jpoc.20047

✦ Synopsis

note that in 2008, approximately 70% of U.S. adults used the Internet, and 50% reported having access to the Internet in their homes. Considering statistics indicating such widespread Internet access, it is not surprising that the web is now being used as a source for mental health services. Although Internet-based mental health interventions have been in use since the 1980s in some form (Skinner & Zack, 2004), there remain questions surrounding the effi cacy and ethics related to online practice. A number of ethics codes (American Counseling Association, 1999; International Society for Mental Health Online, 2000; National Board for Certifi ed Counselors, 2001) have addressed Internet practice with specifi c recommendations. Th ese organizations have identifi ed credentialing, duty to warn and protect, informed consent, and confi dentiality as critical areas of concern in Internet counseling.

Standards for Online Counseling

Th e National Board for Certifi ed Counselors (NBCC) was the fi rst organization to adopt standards for online counseling in September 1997. It defi ned "WebCounseling" as "the practice of professional counseling and information delivery that occurs when client(s) and counselor are in separate or remote locations and utilize electronic means to communicate over the Internet" (Bloom, 1998, p. 53).

In October 1999, the American Counseling Association's (ACA) governing council approved the Ethics Standards for Internet Online Counseling. Th ese standards include most of the NBCC standards and add that counselors must inform clients that counselors: Cannot guarantee confi dentiality over the Internet Must provide counseling only through secure websites or by encrypted e-mail