Online_Therapy_Paper

In this paper, the read will learn about the content of three online therapy websites, the professionals involved in the therapy offered and how the actual online therapy communication occurs. While reading this paper once will also learn how the professional associations and the state regulatory board view and monitor these three online therapy websites. Along with the ethical and security issues that go along with online therapy informed consent and privacy. While reading this paper one will also learn about the writer opinion regarding the advantages and disadvantages of online therapy services. The first online therapy websites is www.lzcybershrick.com where Elizabeth Zelvin promotes her services. Elizabeth Zelvin is a licensed clinical social worker along with being a licensed psychotherapist. Elizabeth is the sole service provider on www/lzcybershrick.com. According to her biography, she has twenty year of experiences and a private practice in the state of New York on top the services she offer online. Ms. Zelvin offer her services online by using chartroom setting, Client schedule appointment times with Ms. Zelvin via email. They do this so in order to obtain the password from Ms. Zelvin so that they are able to sign-in to the online chartroom at the prearranged time in order to have their private appointment. Ms. Zelvin rates are by the half hour, the hour and by email exchanges. Therefore, if someone were to use her services they would be changed sixty-five dollars for half an hour and one hundred dollars for a whole hour of chartroom time and for each email they sent it would cost them forty-five dollars. Clients can pay these fees using any major credit cards or by using PayPal. All payments must be paid before a scheduled session starts. Ms. Zelvin website also has information regarding the books and poetry she has written along with songs she has composed. So as one can understand this website is all about promoting Elizabeth Zelvin services and products (Zelvin, 2007-2011). The second online therapy website also offers their online therapy service also uses a chartroom type area to meet in. This website is www.live-counselor.com. On live-counselor client are offer over two hundred different therapist, counselors, and social workers to search thought. Clients are able to rummage around for the right therapist, social worker, or counselor by using the problems in which he or she is in need of assistances with. Live-counselor offer assistance for client who have addictions problem, problem with coping with this like disaster or physical conditions, eating disorders, parenting problems, personal development problems, personality and emotional disorders, along with relationship problems. The rate in which Live-counselor changes their client varies for one dollar to dollar eighthly nine per minute. Live-counselor has their client register with a credit card before stating a session with the client. On live-counselor a client does not have to make an appointment before they obtain services they can just sign-in and obtain services whenever they need them or have the time to obtain them. Live-counselor website does not include any other information other then all of the providers ‘which offer services on the websites biographies and the disclaimers information in regards to the fact that the therapists, counselors, and social workers on this website are not responsible for anything that occurs on the website or anything to do with the billing process (Live-Counselor, 2013). The final online therapy website to learn about in this paper is www.serenityonlinetherapy.com. Serenity-online-therapy offer their services thought both chartrooms and emails. The whole focuses of this website is the provider who is title “Carl Benedict.” Carl Benedict is a licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC). Carl Benedict is licensed thought the the state of Maryland. Carl has worked for over twelve years as a therapist in a mental health clinic and hospital. Mr. Benedict has been working as an online therapist for over four year. His rates are fifty dollars an hour or the chance to purchases a package that offers the client a discount on the services he or she receives. Along with the service, Carl also has numerous articles that he post in regard to different problems clients might be experiencing. These problems can include addiction, grief, childhood trauma, bad diagnosis, parenting, and depression just to name a few of the topics. Along with these articles Carl, also offer a part that contains inspirational saying and poems that clients can read (Benedict, 2005-2013). “Every state in the United States excluding California has an application processes and procedures that has been established by law in each state and that is administered by the states counselor licensure boards that a person has to go thought in order to become a licensed professional counselor.” The National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) website offer a list of contact information for each states counselor-licensing board except for California’s Board of Mental Health Practices. The website also authorizes and permits anyone the ability to be able to check the certificate of the online human services professionals who is offering online therapy. By doing this, clients are able to make a knowledgeable judgment of whether or not to hire the human service professional in question or try to find someone else with better credentials (NBCC, 2012). As technology progresses ethical issues will arise. This is why online therapy bring up many concerns a few of them being whether or not online therapy is secure and successful, and whether or not the a client is able to truly provide the online website with informed consent. Another big problem is how can a website monitor if the professional and client are really who they say they are. The three website above offer a disclaimers stating that tells client’s “that if they are having serious thoughts about hurting themselves or other they should 911. The disclaimers goes on to tell clients who suffer from a chronic mental illness and have to have intense treatment that online therapy is not a option for them and they need to find something else (Benedict, 2005-2013).” Although these disclaimers easy to find on each of the three websites it does not mean that possible client will listen to what the disclaimers tell them. This can cause problems because it the client does have a chronic mental illness without knowing they are not able to provide the informed consent and the online therapist has no way of knowing this or if the client has had past thought of wanting to hurt his or herself or others for that matter. This mean that the therapist depend on the client tell him or her all of their pertinent information and not holding anything back. These three websites all used a chat room type setup when working with their clients and limits how a client can pay for the services, which is mainly with a credit card. However, after the paying for the services the therapist gives the client, a password in which he or she is to then uses to be able to sign in into the chat room and begin his or her session with the therapist. However, client has no way of knowing the type of security software or what measures are being taking by the member of the website he or she is using to protect his or her personal information. In addition, it is not guarantee that the client is the person in which he or she is claiming to be. In a traditional setting, this is not a problem. As one can see online therapy offer no guarantees that, anyone is whom he or she says he or she is along with limited way in which a client can pay for the services. However there are way in which people are now able to help fix this problem if the online therapy made it where their online therapy where using video chat then the client and the therapies could see who they were talking to. Another way would be to make sure the client SSI number, licenses, and credit card information all matched to the same person. This would fix the problem of not being able to tell if the person is whom they say, they are. The next problem is that online therapy does not require medical records from their clients. This can be fixed by starting to require them or requiring them only when the need arises. An example of the need arising could be the client seem to have a problem that keep occurring every now and then and the therapist want to know if this is something new or if it something that has happen before and the client ether will not give the therapist the information or is not sure. By obtaining the clients medical records the therapist might be able to figure out what is going on with the client. Obtaining the client medical records also helps the therapist by letting him or her know if the client in question has ever been at risk of hurting his or herself or any other one for that matter so they know to watch the client carful for signs of them wanting to hurt themselves or other again. After reading this paper, it should be clear that although online therapy has it risk it can be just as helpful to some people as the traditional therapy sessions are for others. Not one type of therapy is better than the other because both have risk one has to take in order to use the services provided. However not all online therapy website are that great as not all traditional therapy originations are not that great. What one needs to do is figure out what setting would be best for them and then research about the different websites or origination out there for them to use before signing up to use any of them. In addition, it is important for a person to know all the risk involved the choose they are making before if possible before making that chooses. In other words, people should read all warning and information given before signing up for something no matter if it online therapy or a facebook account.