Ethics and Technology

nName

nProfessors Name

nDate

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nMental Health Counselling

nIntroduction

nA professional counsellor has a great responsibility to maintain the trust from the mental health client. In addition, a counsellor should seek ethical application of counselling standards and practices. Internet has enabled faster and private mode of communication that has facilitated provisions of mental health counselling (Kraus, Stricker, & Speyer, 2011). The provision of these services over the internet should be guided by ethical and legal standards.

nEthical and Legal Issues

nLegal and ethical standards in mental health counselling help to improve a mechanism of accountability and improve the professional practice. The ACA Code of Ethics 2005 is based on five moral principles of fidelity, justice, autonomy, nonmaleficence and justice. Moreover, laws have been incorporated into ethical codes of practice. The codes help to deal with ethical issues such as self-denial or confidentiality (Kraus, Stricker, & Speyer, 2011). Laws carry significant penalties or sanctions when a counsellor fails to adhere to the provisions under the law. The counsellor should abide to statutory laws that are passed by state legislatures and Congress. In addition, state department on mental health issues the licences that a counsellor should abide within a certain state (Gamino, & Ritter, 2009). This ensures that a counsellor present a professional image while working over the internet.

nPlan of Action while dealing with Online Mental Health Counselling

nWhile dealing with a customer over the internet on sexual issues, a counsellors action is guided by Code of Ethics. First, a counsellor should respect the clients privacy especially in social media hence should not access private information unless given consent to do so. Secondly, when both the client and counsellor are online they should clearly distinguish their boundaries (Gamino, & Ritter, 2009). Therefore, there should be a professional boundary from personal profile. This is because if a client sees counsellor as a person rather than a profession it changes the balance of relationship. Therefore, a counsellor should use the companys name for professional page over the internet. Thirdly, a counsellor should be careful when dealing with the clients posts or tweets. Counsellor should come into understanding with the customer about any crisis. In addition, he/she must ensure that client understands social media activities so that there are timely interventions (Kraus, Stricker, & Speyer, 2011). Besides, it is also a good idea that they set a session to address any potential problem.

nReferences

nGamino, L., & Ritter, R. (2009). Ethical practice in grief counseling (1st ed.). New York: Springer Pub.

nKraus, R., Stricker, G., & Speyer, C. (2011). Online counseling (1st ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier/Academic Press.