2. Record keeping and office management
◦ Computers with client files
◦ Electronic calendars
◦ Hard drive storage to keep confidential information
◦ Strong Encryptions
3. Facilitating Therapy
◦ Video Chatting (distance counseling)
◦ Email Correspondences
◦ Chat Session without Video
4. Provide counseling services in areas where
counselors are not available.
Counselor can accommodate unusual
schedules of clients.
Less overhead because no need for office
space…can work from home.
5. Clients who might normally not consider
counseling, may find this alternative
appealing.
Counselor may be able to accommodate more
clients because more accessible and lower
costs due to less overhead.
6. Maintaining security of sensitive electronic
files.
Breaches of privacy issues due to the
complicated nature of online services (social
networking, email, etc…)
Technological glitches that impede
therapeutic benefit.
7. Lack of human contact prevents
transmission of empathy from
counselor to client.
Counselor cannot read non verbal
signals from client which may contain
meaning.
Counselor may not be able to provide
safety for client who expresses desire
for suicide.
8. Follow all ethical guidelines as state in
American Counseling Association’s Ethical
Code
Use best practices when trying to implement
technological standards in the counseling
field.
Get adequate training on the uses of
unfamiliar types of technology.
9. Attend professional development seminars
that have a technological focus.
Study the legal and ethical guidelines allowed
for both your state and within the profession
to ensure that you are using technology
appropriately.
Get training on the use of technology.
10. Henry David Thoreau said…
“Men have become the tools of their
tools.”
Don’t ever forget that technology cannot
replace empathy and compassion. Technology
serves our purpose…not the other way around.
