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 Issues Involved In Online Counseling
In general, online counseling at lightinlife involves the same general process as the face-to-face counseling involves, so the same specific rules should apply as they do in the material world. However, counseling across country lines becomes very easy with online counseling, and there is some debate as to the legalities of this practice. If a US based counselor exchanges emails with a client in New Delhi, is there a problem? Where does the therapy take place? Some argue that the client is virtually traveling to the therapist's office, whereas others suggest that the counselor must be allowed to counsel in the client's country, or else.
Still others claim that online counseling is totally different from traditional counseling, so none of the old rules apply.
To date, there have been no legal challenges, but the situation has renewed debates. Beyond the legal questions, ethical considerations include concerns about competence (it needs specialized training in online counseling before doing it), confidentiality and crisis intervention (we get contact information and carefully screen clients for appropriateness prior to beginning counseling). APA issued an ethical statement about online counseling in 1997 that took a "wait-and-see" stance, urging psychologists to use their best clinical and ethical judgment in the practice of online work. Many professional liability insurance companies will cover online work so long as it is conducted within the bounds of the counselor’s ethical bounds.
We are ethical professionals and we do have your best interests at heart. We know you can feel vulnerable so when we work for you we make sure that you come first. We are ethical counselors accountable to our conscience.
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Everything we do for you is intended to help.
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We will not keep you in counseling any longer than We think is needed.
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You can ask for what you want and if We are unclear We'll ask you.
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This is a confidential service. Some common-sense exclusions apply, like
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