Online Therapy Paper Bshs 375

Online Therapy Paper

Tina Mott

BSHS 375

January 18, 2016

Ricky Delatte

Online Therapy Paper

With the hustle and bustle of today’s world people are turning to online services for convenience. For someone who is looking for a more intrusive type of therapy online therapy will work for them. Online therapy can be anything from online chat forums, skype, video conferences, to WebMD, email and texting. In this paper we will discuss what types of online therapy services are offered, how online data is protected along with advantages and disadvantages of online therapy.

The professional’s online interview and log data to help come up with a treatment plan for the client just like a regular office visit. These interactions will be made via email, video conference, and other online methods. Through these methods the therapist will schedule and attend regular sessions and keep record of the sessions just like any other therapist. Online therapist need to have and maintain all the same qualifications as any other therapist. Therapists that offer services online might limit their services to weeks to months of treatment not years.  At that times the therapist will help the client find a therapist in their area, and will also continue with their treatment plan.

One of the online therapists I have found is (talkspace). Talkspace pairs the client up with a therapist who is certified to handle their needs and treatment. They offer a free assessment to answer any question that you might have and explain how the online therapist worth. Then they will give you a list of therapist that specialize with the client’s needs, the client can then chose a client to work with they have 300 therapist. Payment is determined by exactly what type of services is needed.

The second one we will be talking about is (mytherapycouch). They offer several different type of online services such as live chat, email, one on one therapy, or even group chats. The therapist at mytherapycouch all go by the same credentials and ethics that you therapist you would go see in person. The online therapists are held to all the same confidentiality standards that are put in place by the government.  Mytherapycouch offers immediate services as well as long term counseling. They also work with corporations to offer counseling service to the employees who struggle with needs.

A primary legal issue within regards to electronic social work practice is defining the location where services are provided, when services occur across state lines. The ASWB Model Social Work Act (“Model Act”), Section 301 (e), defines human service workers as those provided to an individual in the state where the client is located. Since one state, Oklahoma, has adopted the ASWB provision as written: “The provision of social work services to an individual in this state, through telephonic, electronic or other means, regardless of the location of the social worker, shall constitute the practice of social work and shall be subject to regulation” (Oklahoma, 2007).The ASWB commentary to this section points out that “practice other than in-person service is limiting to both the practitioner and client” and advises “extreme caution” in offering services electronically.