Conduct an Internet search for at least three online therapy sites. Discuss the content in each site, the professionals involved, and how the actual online interaction occurs.
Online therapy is a concept in the counseling word that has emerged with the advancement in IT and more especially with the use of the internet. It’s also called online counseling that takes care of the body, mind and spirit issue of the individuals concerned. There are two broad categories of online therapy; there is the real time and also the delayed therapy. Real time may involve use of chats and phones to facilitate the therapy while the delayed therapy is one done using e-mails that may not be responded to immediately. There are so many online therapy sites in existence that can be used by various people. This paper seeks to focus on three therapy sites that include iTherapyRX, MytherapyNet and Serenity online therapy.
iTherapyRX captures therapy in three perspectives; mind, spirit and body and among its content is an outline of what the three types f therapy are about and how they are conducted. The site also lists a number of professionals that offer services with a brief description of who they are. Just to name a few, there are the mind counselors that include Melissa Snyder whose profile indicates that she is a licensed social worker, Susa Foundry and Sherry Campbell. All these are professionals that have recorded so many years of service to individuals, groups and families that a under depression.
Then there is the MytherapyNet site that also offers online therapy. It also lists a number of professionals that work with the site; claiming that it only works with therapists that are licensed for credibility and effectiveness. Some of these include Shannon Batts, Brandon Santan among others most of whom are based I the United States. All the therapists have their information readily availed for clients on their profiles, a scheme to help in choice of the therapists according to the peoples’ special needs.
Lastly this paper focuses on the Serenity online therapy site that is more of a one man site. Carl Benedict, an internationally recognized therapist with a license seems to be the only professional using this site. He has provided some information about himself and his way of working, probably to enable clients decide on whether or not he is the best for them.Address how professional associations and state regulatory boards view online therapy.
Though many individuals tend to dispute the whole thing as concerns online therapy, the National Board for Certified Counselors seems to have minimal objections to this practice. According to this organization, online therapy is no different from the face to face therapy, only that nature does not allow the counselor and the client to meet physically. However, it recognizes the fact that most people who claim to be using online therapy only search for answers to their problems from the sites without contacting the professionals concerned. On the other hand, some health professionals have been known to campaign against online therapy. This has been on the basis of the services offered by these online therapists as compared to the traditional ways of administering mental therapy. They argue out that the online therapists only offer advice to their clients, a process not good enough to be termed as therapy.Discuss related security issues and ethical issues, such as informed consent and confidentiality.
Efficacy of online therapy has been a major concern both to the clients, service providers and the health organizations and bodies. Just like in the traditional ways of administering therapy, there is so much need for confidentiality of the information that the client will entrust to the therapist. When addressing the ethical and security concerns of online therapy, most health organizations base their arguments on the disadvantages and security issues that are related to the internet use. This is so since the internet is the most commonly used channel of communication for the online therapists. Hacking, cracking and other security issues subject the clients to dangers of exposure, if they were to fall victim of such vices. Security of the online therapy has also been questioned on the basis of what could come up in case there was an emergency and the client was not able to reach the therapist. Such an argument can be termed as a weakness of the online therapy practice as compared to the traditional approach.
Online therapy is just but a new practice in the psychological world that stemmed up with the emergence of the internet. Since its emergence, it has seen many arguments on the basis of ethics, technology and legalities involved with metal care. This has been a great controversy that still remains, in as much as the practice is on and working well.Include your opinion of the advantages and disadvantages of online therapy services.All said I tend to think that the online therapy practice is both good and bad, depending on the perspective from which the whole thing is viewed. I could say online therapy is good to be used when there seems to be no other option. Personally I heavily prefer the traditional methods of administering therapy for confidentiality, effectiveness and for bonding. However, there are cases when one needs to share with people they have never met and may never see, just to allow the open up to them. There are also cases where one cannot access a therapist due to communication problems, especially to the people staying in very remote areas. These are the instances when the online therapy seems so good and very helpful.
On another note, online therapy seems to have so many disadvantages that seem to create a big block against it as my choice. Key to this is how the online therapists are slow to embracing new technology and rigid to the previous technologies. This is true of how they have insisted on using e-mails as the means of communication, while there are better ways of communicating like the use of video conferences or even audio streams.
Online therapy also inherits so much on the weaknesses of present day technology. As already stated above, it’s hard to ensure confidentiality of the information shared with the therapist, especially on text-based means of communication. There also are so many legal and ethical concerns facing the online therapy practice, making it so much questionable and less trustable by clients. This is in connection with the inability of people to identify competent therapists s the profiles given may not be true reflection of who they are.
Online therapy still remains useful in as much as it has so many limitations. It’s amazing that most users of the online therapy services is a bunch of people facing complex problems and are either afraid of seeking for solutions or are not sure if they want to solve these problems. I can, therefore, clearly say that online therapy is a bridge to acquiring the real therapy; a final solution to the problem at hand.
References
MyTherapyNet.com | Online Therapy and Online Counseling with Licensed Therapists. (n.d.). MyTherapyNet.com | Online Therapy and Online Counseling with Licensed Therapists. Retrieved January 28, 2013, from http://mytherapynet.com/
Online Counseling for Mind, Body, and Spirit :: iTherapyRX. (n.d.). Online Counseling for Mind, Body, and Spirit :: iTherapyRX. Retrieved January 28, 2013, from http://itherapyrx.com/
Serenity Online Therapy: Email Counseling and Chat Therapy. (n.d.). Serenity Online Therapy: Email Counseling and Chat Therapy. Retrieved January 28, 2013, from http://www.serenityonlinetherapy.com
