Archive for the ‘Forums’ Category

Get Verified!

Do you have a website that offers information, services or products related to mental health?

Online Therapy Institute verifies websites so that individuals and businesses can demonstrate to their audience that their website is in compliance with what OTI considers to be “best practice” and in accordance with OTI’s Ethical Frameworks.

Getting OTI Verified means whether you offer website development and marketing services, you are an individual practitioner in private practice or you own an e-clinic or you represent a charity or educational organization you can indicate to the public that you understand the ethical implications of delivering mental health information and services online.

Website Categories

• Client Services (therapy, counselling. counseling, coaching)
• Therapist/Coach Directory
• Social Network
• Blog
• Peer Support
• Self Help
• Practice Building/Marketing
• Supervision/Consultation
• Education/Professional Development
• Crisis Intervention

You may have a website that fits into more than one category. Or you may have two websites under the same business name. For instance, some people have a private practice website and a separate blog site. We will offer an OTI Verified Seal that you can use on all of your sites. By implementing the items on our checklist that apply to your website categories, you can Get Verified .

• Your seal will be a choice of two styles.
• Each seal carries your company name and the current date.
• The seal cannot be replicated onto another site.
• The cost is $99.99 for the first year and $49.99 renewal each year following.

Instructions

You must have Adobe Reader to Download the following files

OTI Get Verified Checklist ….. OTI Get Verified Notes

• Compare your website to our checklist to be sure your website is ready for verification.
• Read through the notes that offer clarification for items on the checklist.
• Once you are sure you meet the criteria, click Google Buy Now button below.
• Following the completion of the payment process, you will be directed to the application.
• You will be contacted within 10 business days with your OTI Verified Seal.
• Should your website not meet the OTI Verified criteria, we will make recommendations.

Get Verified!

OTI has been remiss in offering regular blog posts these past couple of months but with good cause and great outcomes!

So what’s in store for 2010? Our authored book, Therapy Online: A Practical Guide was just released and we have another edited book, The Use of Technology in Mental Health: Applications, Ethics and Practice due out this summer. This book has 30 chapters with a total of 47 contributing authors from across the globe.

As promised, we are offering online training about online therapy. We have launched the first 6 workshops with more to come. Each workshop is the equivalent of 5 clock hours of instruction. The workshops are online and self-paced.  The cost per workshop is $119.00/70.00 £.

• Introduction to Cyberspace: A Primer for Helping Professionals
• Relationships in Cyberspace: An Introduction for Helping Professionals
• The Online Therapeutic Relationship: Theoretical Considerations
• Ethical Considerations of Online Therapy
• Working Therapeutically Using Asynchronous Email
• Working Therapeutically Using Synchronous Chat

The workshop details can be accessed at our training portal. We have partnered with DigitalChalk to bring you a user-friendly yet state-of-the-art experience. Continuing Education credits for U.S. psychologists, social workers and counselors will be available very soon.

www.onlinetherapyinstitute.digitalchalk.com.

Just create an account and peruse our catalog! Your account will remain active should you decide to return to take a course.

We are giving our website a facelift so resources are easier to navigate.

We will soon offer an Online Therapy Institute ~verified~ seal that will provide a way for online helping professionals to indicate to the public that their site meets standards of best practice.

We will be facilitating groups and workshops as well as co-sponsoring conferences online and at our Second Life location.

We are collaborating with others to add to our Ethical Framework resources.

We have created:

• Ethical Framework for the Use of Technology in Mental Health
• Ethical Framework for the Use of Technology for Career and School Guidance

Coming Soon:

• Ethical Framework for the Use of Technology in Professional Coaching
• Ethical Framework for the Use of Technology in Crisis, Disaster and Critical Incident Interventions
  

We are offering a directory listing to everyone who joins our social network at www.onlinetherapysocialnetwork.com and your listing will be posted at www.onlinetherapydirectory.net.

For OTI members who practice online, a website listing in the OTI Web Directory (online counseling category) will be added provided the following standards are met:

1. Offer encrypted services for email, chat and web conferencing.
2. List level of education, schools attended and dates graduated.
3. List certifications and licenses if applicable with verification web links.
4. List crisis information or a link on the website’s home page.
5. List therapist’s alternate contact information in addition to email.

Mostly, we will continue to encourage dialogue among our members and friends at Online Therapy Institute so that we can all learn and grow together!

Kate and DeeAnna

We have had several inquiries lately about membership at the Online Therapy Institute; particularly- what are the benefits of joining?

• Advertising
• Networking
• Media Opportunities
• Case Consultation

OTI offers several ways for people to collaborate, network and gain knowledge about mental health and technology.  We have free discussion groups through Linkedin, Facebook, Second Life and our own social network.  We blog and we tweet to keep everyone up-to-date on the latest happenings in the field.  Membership is not necessary through these groups and many are satisfied with the affiliation they currently have with us.  Becoming a member however, brings additional benefits. 

When a person, business, organization, educational institution or charity joins OTI we spread the word about their cause, services, products, or training. Beginning in 2009, all members who join receive a dedicated blog post which is fed to many blog directories and social networks such as Linkedin and Twitter.  We also create a listing in our Web Directory and the new listing is then fed to Twitter and other networks.  We create another way to advertise through social media and we promote our members by assisting with research projects, networking and offering media connections.  We promote member workshops and trainings related to mental health and technology through our blog and events calendar.

For qualified clinical members, we offer a secure and encrypted forum for peer supervision and one-off case consultation regarding online and face-to-face cases.  The forum is facilitated and feedback is offered by Kate Anthony and DeeAnna Merz Nagel.

If you interested in joining, access the membership form here. Come grow with us!! And please do not hesitate to ask any questions of us. 

Annual Membership Fees

$ 50.00 USD  INDIVIDUAL Clinical and Professional

$ 75.00 USD  ORGANISATIONAL Non-profit/Charity/Educational Institution/Association

$100.00 USD ORGANISATIONAL Business/Corporate

The Online Therapy Institute offers several venues to engage in vibrant discussion about bringing mental health and technology together. Online therapy, cyberpsychology, the use of the internet to enhance private practice, internet addiction and behavioral telehealth are but a few of the topics that pop up on our discussion boards.  We have groups and discussions located at LinksforShrinks, Facebook, Second Life, Linkedin and the Online Therapy Institute Social Network  Check out OTI on the Web!

For secure and encrypted communication with other Online Therapy Institute Clinical Members, consider joining and gain access to the OTI Member Forum. Clinical Members can staff cases and engage in peer supervision in a confidential environment.

See you online!

DeeAnna

Today is World Aids Day which has prompted me to write about support forums online. The internet has changed the way some of us approach living with a new diagnosis. Now with the internet we have instant access to information that used to require library access. And the internet goes beyond just allowing access to information- people can communicate using a variety of delivery methods from email and chat to group chats, discussion boards and forums, videoconferencing and voice-over.

Since the internet’s inception the use of online support forums has become a mainstay. People can find support forums for nearly every mental, emotional or physical difficulty. Websites such as DailyStrength.org offer a one-stop portal to find peer support for many issues including HIV/AIDS.

At the Online Therapy Institute, we offer a Web Directory that lists several forums and other websites that promote peer support (people with like issues coming together to suppport one another). If you are a mental health professional, consider offering information to your clients about forums and discussion boards that might be helpful. Forums can be a great adjunct to therapy, offering support and information between sessions. If you are a person seeking information about a difficult diagnosis or situation, consider utilizing a forum online.

Be sure to consider privacy issues. While there are many forums available that are free to join, they may not be encrypted. Most are password protected, but even so, if the forum offers an RSS feed, you might find your post floating in cyberspace with personal information that you had hoped only to share among a few. Be sure you understand the limits of privacy and confidentiality when using a forum or discussion board.

DeeAnna Merz Nagel

The Online Therapy Institute is official and the proof is in the number of recent new members! Kate and DeeAnna welcome all who have embraced OTI as another place to network, advertise and learn!  Remember to visit us in Second Life as well.  Soon we will integrate group forum discussions at our Second Life office on the Islands of Jokaydia.

We have other plans as well.  2009 will bring new publications, online courses and more opportunities to network.  Stay tuned!

Kate and DeeAnna

The Online Therapy Institute is pleased to announce membership with options to professionals and clinicians.  Membership in the Institute includes a website listing and access to the Institute member forum.  Clinical members may utilize the peer supervision board within the forum.   We have heard of many people seeking supervision and consultation, especially those new to online practice.  The peer supervision forum will be moderated by us, Kate Anthony and DeeAnna Merz Nagel and will allow clinicians to build a strong professional network.