ONLINE THERAPY IN RELEVANCE WITH SOCIAL WORK

Online Therapy in Relevance with Social Work

Online Therapy in Relevance with Social Work

Introduction

Technology provides tools to help counsellors' accomplish their work more effectively and efficiently beyond what they can do without it. Counsellors' now have high-tech methods for better managing, supporting, conducting, delivering, and describing their work as before never imagined. Such power, however, comes with great responsibility (Shaw, 2006). Counsellors' must work diligently to make certain that technological literacy and implementation is an important part of their ongoing professional development. They must identify and plan for overcoming barriers that technology can pose, such as intrusions into personal lives (Sabella, 2004). Finally, counsellors' must recognise how the very same technology that helps them can hurt themselves and their clients. Thus, important parts of counsellors'' technological literacy and implementation are understanding potentials and opportunities that technology affords counsellors', evaluating how technology is used, and considering the impact that technology has on their lives.

Discussion

Online counseling or e-therapy is a new way to 'see' a therapist. There are many reasons for choosing the e-therapy services such as privacy concerns, difficulty with traveling to the therapist's office, Busy schedules, fear of going out in public, and 24 hour availability. That's why Haberstroh et al rightly say that online therapy is becoming more prevalent and available to our society (Haberstroh, Duffey & Evans, 2007).

Online therapy is becoming more prevalent and available to our society (Haberstroh, 2007). Researchers are trying to determine the effectiveness of online therapy compared to traditional approaches (Alleman, 2002). Review the current literature on the efficacy of online counseling. Identify ethical issues that may occur in online counseling. Using the code of ethics for your field, evaluate possible method for resolving ethical concerns in online counseling.

Technology in counselling began with the advent of the desktop computer over 30 years ago. Success in computer-aided services for career counselling and increased comfort with technology were factors in the computer becoming a mainstay in the therapeutic setting. Research has found that the computer enhances counselling services in the areas of testing and assessment, career decision making, intake interviewing, and personal counselling, and that it enables maintenance and storage of records in a smaller space and improves cost effectiveness (Bersoff, 2005). Although Internet access has provided avenues for filing insurance, advertising services, and providing online therapy, online therapy refers to applications that are strictly accessed on a basic computer without Internet access. Expanded uses of online therapy have challenged mental health professionals to understand and take measures to ensure that all ethical standards are met (Sussman, 2005).

The Nature of Counsellor Technological Literacy

So what is technological literacy as it pertains to counsellors'? Many people have written on the subject of technological literacy. Technological literacy may be seen as having knowledge and abilities to select and apply appropriate technologies in a given context (Shaw, 2006). There are three components to technological literacy: the technology of making things, the technology of organisation, and, the technology of using ...