Archive for March, 2009

The Metaverse Journal interviewed DeeAnna and myself about our online therapy and our work inworld.  http://tinyurl.com/cj7t7k

We discuss various issues about using Second Life to host therapy sessions – our optimism about it as well as our concerns around security and encryption, and how we got into this field in the first place. We are so thrilled to have the opportunity to discuss this topic in such a well respected media venue.  The Metaverse Journal has long been one of our favorite picks!

Hope you enjoy it!

Kate

The Online Therapy Institute offers an Ethical Framework for the Use of Technology in Mental Health that incorporates the major points of existing codes and guidelines offering practitioners a way to ensure that thier therpeutic work via technology covers best practice. 

The framework’s audience is global and as new technologies and ethical issues arise, the framework will be revised and updated.  Practitioners who practice according to the framework can know that they are implementing the best standard of care available to their clients.

The framework is posted on the OTI website and is also offered as a PDF download.  Members of OTI who offer therapy delivered via technology will be listed in the OTI Web Directory provided their practice follows the framework.  Anyone may join the Institute. but the directory will be reserved for practitioners and organizations who have implemented the framework into their practice.

We are excited about offering this framework to all mental health practitioners!

Best,

DeeAnna and Kate

Hi everyone!  I recently received the February 2009 edition of Psychotherapy Finances. In this issue a question submitted for comment asked about whether or not an online therapist has to be licensed in every state to offer online therapy.  The article is not available online but here are some highlights from the response:

• Web-cam therapy is not as popular as had been expected due to the need for high speed connection and the fact that some people prefer the  perceived anonymity offered through text-based therapy.
• In theory, some officials suggest that a clinician could be liable for ethics charges of even loss of license if they see a client who resides in another state.
• The state of Ohio is looking at a new rule saying that therapy takes place whereever the client is.
• There are no legal cases yet.
• Insurers are generally not happy  with the concept of Internet services but coverage remains in place.
• The first person who gets hit (with a lawsuit) will get hit big.
• Even so, many individuals are seeking therapy online.
• Various associations offer ethical guidelines but retain attitudes ranging from indifference to hostility.
• Informed consent may need to be modified for online work.
• It is suggested that if your license is listed on your website, you come under the jurisdiction of the license regardless of what service you state you are providing (consulting, coaching or advice).

I recommend this publication to any clinician but particularly if you are in private practice.  While this particular article is, in my opinion, heaped with negativity, it does offer points that those of who practicing online should be concerned with.

To all of our non-U.S. followers- forgive this U.S.-centric post!!

DeeAnna

Following on from a recent blog from DeeAnna about our interview with InnerWorld Magazine , this is now published and can be read at http://tinyurl.com/qhg9h2.  The magazine talks about our work in Second Life and the reasons why we prefer to use other avenues of communication for actual client work, while enjoying our presence in this virtual world to promote and educate about the role of technology in therapy.

Enjoy!

Kate

New publication
 
Guidelines for online counselling and psychotherapy, 3rd edition
Including Guidelines for online supervision
By Kate Anthony and Stephen Goss
 
This new publication provides up-to-date guidance for best practice for those involved in the provision of counselling and psychotherapy over the internet.
 
A perfect resource for online counsellors and managers of online therapy services, this publication raises awareness of the delicate issues linked with this form of therapy and assists those working within the field in maximising their competency to deal with these issues.
 
Available to purchase from BACP, week commencing 23 March 2009, via www.bacp.co.uk/shop or 01455 883300.
£6.50 for members; £8 for non-members

 

MACHS

 

Mid-Atlantic Consortium for Human Services

 

2009 Annual Conference

 

Improving the Health and Wellness of Human Services

Recipients and Providers: Thinking Globally and Acting Locally

 

April 17-19, 2009

Brookdale Community College

Lincroft, NJ

Keynote: Wellness: A Model for Personal and Professional Practice.

Peggy Swarbrick, PhD., OT, CPRP 

Human service professionals are dedicated to help service recipients attain and achieve a sense of well being through access to resources, supports and skills. Service recipients encounter complex challenges to health, wellness, and longevity. This presentation will review how a wellness model can guide human service practice. Learn about the 8 dimensions of wellness, wellness principles and practical strategies to empower service recipients and fellow professionals. Participants will be challenged to apply wellness principles personally and professionally to prevent burnout and effectively deliver services that foster health, wellness, and improved quality of life.  

Sample of Workshops to be offered:  

“Mental Health and the Impact of Technology” – DeeAnna Merz Nagel, LPC

“Learned Optimism”

“The Privileges of Being in the Visible Majority”

“Introduction to Psychiatric Rehabilitation: A distinct field of human services”  

 

Registration Deadline: March 13th MACHS 2009 Annual Conference Registration   Name: __________________________________________ College/Organization _____________________________________________________   Email: __________________________________________ Address: ___________________________________________________________________       [] Students $75        [] Faculty/Administrator $110        [] Practitioner $110       [] Saturday attendance ONLY $45   Please Note: If you are a person with a documented disability and require special accommodations, you must contact Disability Services at 732-224-2730 or the conference coordinator (David Stout) at 732-224-2340 by the registration deadline (March 13, 2009).

Make checks payable to Brookdale Community College (Write MACHS in the memo line).

 Return checks and registration forms to:

David Stout

Brookdale Community College

765 Newman Springs Rd.

Lincroft, NJ 07738

Kate co-authored an article with me for The Forensic Examiner. 

Forensic Mental Health and Technology: Risk Management Strategies for the Practitioner  is available to read online. The article is also available online as a continuing education course and applies toward necessary CE for practitioners who hold the Certified Forensic Consultant (CFC) credential. The cost is $25.00. Others may take the course and apply the 1 hour through pre or post approval methods with the various credentialing and licensing bodies.

So what are Kate and I doing writing about forensic mental health? Well, for about eight years, much of my work involved child welfare, family assessments, parental fitness, domestic violence and substance abuse evaluations for the courts. I discovered that many child protective and foster care case workers and managers, counselors, psychologists and lawyers passed client information using unsecure methods.  Kate and I combined our knowledge and wrote and article addressing these issues.

I am a member of the American College of Forensic Examiner’s American Board of Forensic Counselors and I am a Certified Forensic Consultant. While my current work does not focus as much now on forensic mental health, I am dedicated to educating mental health practitioners across disciplines about the proper use of technology.

Best,

DeeAnna

More about the Forensic Examiner:

The Forensic Examiner is the official peer-reviewed, quarterly journal of the American College of Forensic Examiners. The journal promotes the continued advancement of forensic examination and consultation across the many professional fields of our membership.

In addition to reaching forensic experts throughout the world, The Forensic Examiner is also available to a general audience through subscriptions and newsstand sales. The publication is available at Barnes and Noble, Borders, Hastings, and many other independent books sellers across the nation.

We met for our photo shoot – the upcoming article coming out in InnerWorld Magazine!

What fun!  The graphics in SL were really bad today- Grid was apparently GRIDLOCKED but we got it done! 

Kate and I received an email from Ananda Valeeva who is the Editor-in-Chief of Inner World Magazine.  She is writing an article on behaviors, emotions and the therapeutic value of virtual worlds. She came across the Online Therapy Institute and has included the institute in her article. So she wanted to let us know and asked if we could meet inworld, talk a bit and snap some pics of us at our office in Second Life.  Well now that sounds like fun, and so we went about the business of arranging a time.

Ananda emailed and stated her available SL time.  Hmmm, I thought.  I vaguely remembered SL time yet had never had a need to use it.  But with all of us in different countries, made sense. So I went inworld to see what time it was in SL currently and the time stamp said PST (Pacific Standard Time).  Huh, [scratch head] now what? I went to Second Life’s Help feature, no luck. So I googled SL Time Zone.  And the answer was revealed! http://sl.nmc.org/2007/01/02/time-zones/ - A blog post from 2007 explains it. SL time was a nifty idea conjoured up by Linden Lab but apparently it ws so confusing for most that the idea was abandoned and now everything in Second Life is on PST (California) where Linden Lab, the creator of Second Life, is located. 

Ok so that is not so hard.  I know what time zone I live in (EST) and I know what time it is in the UK – 5 hours ahead of me. Now, let’s see, Ananda lives in Brazil…

Well, we finally figured it out- 3 different time zones establishing a meeting in yet another time zone. But it felt like I was in 7th grade math class trying to solve a word problem!

See you inworld Ananda!!

(oh my, what shall I wear?)

And we will keep the rest of you posted!

DeeAnna