Online Psychotherapy
Moral issues in distance service provision and communication.
Technology and Communication: We live in an era of 'communication revolution'. The entry of advanced technology of media and applications (e.g. Internet) brought new data, questions, and possibilities to the communication of the modern man.The availability and access to this titanic volume of information that is now available just seconds away from any person familiar with technology, Undoubtedly, it has significantly impacted the provision of mental health services.
Beyond face-to-face communication (f2f), mental health professionals and the publicThey have the ability to come into contact with new unconventional ways. The telephone, video conferencing, and the internet open the way for alternative channels of service provision when provided with care, ethics, diligence, and professionalism, They are characterized by immediacy in access, user-friendliness, and focus on substanceand effective intervention.
The questions about whether remote Therapeutic / Counseling intervention has serious ethical grounds arise from the very fundamental characteristic of the service: the Distance. Face-to-face (f2f) communication justifiably dominates and in several cases (e.g. severe mental disorders) it cannot be positively replaced from the corresponding distance service. Most mental health professionals believe that the Non-verbal communication is crucial in the field of understanding human behavior, of the request of the individual seeking a service, as well as acceptance and collaboration at the intervention stage. Non-verbal communication pertains to the 'language' of the body and any other way in which we communicate beyond speech: the body's posture, the movements, clothing and appearance, facial expressions, etc.
All communication samples, individually and collectively, are considered to be of exceptional importance 'tools'but correspondingly for the client to 'read' each other's compatibility, the ability to understand the request as well as a holistic assessment of quality their communication with each other. The usual (at least for several European countries and quite common for the USA) ways of providing remote Counseling and Psychotherapy services concern telephone communication and communication via the Internet (text messaging: real time/ asynchronous, online counseling) where limited non-verbal communication raises some important questions.
However, the questions do not concern the correctness of the endeavors but the effectiveness, since the legal and ethical requirements have certainly been met (e.g. cost, suitability of intervention for each case, capability/suitability of personnel: e.g. licensed trained mental health professionals) and the services are widely accepted and used (for example, hundreds of hotlines from public and private entities that provide services ranging from satisfactory to emergency interventions by phone, e.g. Samaritans UK.Indeed, a visit to the professional offers the invaluable advantage of personal interaction. However, research (that examines the level of customer satisfaction with the service: Benchmarking Surveys, Satisfaction Surveys, Treatment Outcome Surveys) They have shown that there may ultimately not be such significant differences in effectivenessof the intervention as a whole compared to services that were not provided face to face.
It often seems that the immediacy of such serviceand especially for certain populations that are served (e.g. residents of geographically remote areas from urban centers) it is of utmost importance data.It would also be morally inconceivable to deprive technology users that must ultimately facilitate and serve human beings, the ability to receive such remote services, respecting particularly the request for confidentiality, anonymity, or the inability to move in the professional's physical space.
In conclusion, we add that in the humanities professions, It is an ethical rule to understand and respect the client's resistances/defenses that often does not facilitate face-to-face communication. At the core of our Philosophy lies the belief that there is an obligation regardless of how they are provided, services should be offered with respect for the individual, supporting with responsibility, diligence, consistency, and professionalismand only by qualified licensed mental health professionals.
