Online counseling

Online Counseling
Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes Ph.D., LMHC, CRC, NCC
Charles Snipes IT Director
AllCEUs.com, DataTriangle.com and Websites4Counseling.com

History of Online Counseling
Reasons for Online Counseling
Methods of Online Counseling
Ethics of Online Counseling
The Business Aspects
Choosing a Virtual Office
Possible Features
How much to charge
Marketing: Making a Place in Cyberspace
Overview

1970s several hospitals linked via video feed to provide doctor-to-doctor consultation
2000 the first independent practitioners started making a name for themselves
21st Century people have begun communicating more by text/IM
2006 several states passed laws indicating that telehealth must be compensated at the same rate as face2face
2010
The majority of insurers are compensating for telehealth services
Florida created a state-certification for e-therapy.
History

Access experts on a particular problem worldwide
More cost effective for the practitioner and the patient
Wider range of available business hours
Provides a degree of anonymity making many people feel more at ease
Enduring record
Many of the youth of today prefer etherapy…You lived on the phone as a teen, they live on their iphone text.
An adjunct to traditional therapy
Reasons

Phone
Benefits
Drawbacks
Text/IM
Benefits
Drawbacks
Video
Benefits
Drawbacks
Email
Benefits
Drawbacks
Methods

Who and Where
Verifying identity
Assessment
Treatment Issues
Addictions
Anxiety
Depression
Bipolar
OCD
PTSD
Ethics

Choosing a Virtual Office
Virtual office vs. a web presence
Partnering with someone else vs. Independent Office
Advertising/Marketing
Commissions
HIPAA
Payment
The Business Aspects

Possible Features
Web presence
Interactive online appointment book
Fillable assessment and intake forms
Secure IM/Text chat (imbedded or downloadable)
Secure email
Secure video chat (imbedded or downloadable)
Instant services
Business Aspects cont…

How much to charge
Marketing: Making a Place in Cyberspace
SEO optimization
HTML vs. Blog or CMS
Designing your website (colors, usability)
Finding a niche

Several books on online counseling
Resources

Online therapy is becoming increasingly mainstream
There are many advantages such as convenience, cost effectiveness and accessibility
Things to consider when choosing an office are your particular skill set, your target population, how tech savvy you are and how much you want to spend
Building an online practice is no faster than a face-to-face one, but there are things you can do to speed up the process.
Summary

…
Questions

http://www.allceus.com	121
http://igt.com.tw:8000	75
url_unknown	16
http://onlineccounseling.blogspot.com	13
http://www.linkedin.com	8
http://igt.com.tw	2
http://www.slideshare.net	1
http://allceus.com	1

Online counseling

by Dawn-Elise Snipes on Apr 05, 2011

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Online counseling — Presentation Transcript