Benefits and Risks of Electronic Psychotherapy
Electronic psychotherapy, also known as Teletherapy, is different from traditional therapy in that the client and therapist do not meet face-to-face in-person. One of the benefits of electronic psychotherapy is that the client and therapist can continue therapeutic sessions without being in the same place. This can be convenient if either the client or therapist is out of town or the client or therapist is unable to attend a scheduled session in person.
Although there are benefits of electronic therapy, there are also significant risks involved. These risks include, but are not limited to: losing the ability to read physical cues, vocal cues/tones, and facial expressions; an inability to provide immediate emergency services/care; experiencing technical issues that disrupt the counseling session; a risk that the communications may be overheard if the client or therapist does not conduct the session in a secure/confidential place; and there is a risk that the communications may be accessed by unknown third-parties regardless of the security measures in place.
Method of Electronic Psychotherapy
Based upon the client’s needs and the therapist’s assessment of those needs, the following methods of electronic psychotherapy have been chosen:
Security Measures
Courtney Miller Psychotherapy uses the following security measures to ensure that the communications are secure:
- State-of-the-art, HIPAA- and HITECH-compliant encryption through Doxy.me or VSee
- Encrypted, password-protected computers & devices.
- Sessions conducted in a private location where others cannot hear me.
Confidentiality
Confidentiality still extends to any communications done through electronic psychotherapy. Although confidentiality extends to communications by text, email, telephone, and/or other electronic means, I cannot guarantee that those communications will be kept confidential and/or that a third-party may not gain access to our communications. Even though I may utilize state of the art encryption methods, firewalls, and back-up systems to help secure our communication, there is a risk that our electronic communications may be compromised, unsecured, and/or accessed by a third-party.
In order to maintain confidentiality when engaging in electronic psychotherapy, it is important that all sessions be conducted in a confidential place. This means that you as the client agree to participate in therapy only while in a room or area where other people are not present and cannot overhear the conversation. I cannot guarantee that the place you choose to conduct the session is confidential. Do not have sessions in public places such as internet cafes or libraries. I will ask you at the beginning of each electronic psychotherapy session whether you are in a safe, secure, and confidential place. If you say “yes”, I will assume that you are. I will not be able to read/understand any hidden meanings or messages if you only say “yes.”The extent of confidentiality and the exceptions to confidentiality that I listed in my New Patient Paperwork still apply in electronic psychotherapy. In general, information disclosed to a mental health professional in the course of a professional psychotherapeutic relationship cannot be disclosed without the client’s consent. Exceptions to this general rule include:
- If I determine you are a danger to yourself or someone else;
- You disclose abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a child, elderly, or disabled person;
- You disclose sexual contact with another mental health professional or clergy;
- I am ordered by the court to disclose information;
- You direct me to release your records; or
- I am otherwise required by law to disclose information
There may be additional exceptions to confidential communications that I will identify to you as the situations arise throughout our professional relationship.
Emergencies and Technology
Unlike in traditional in-person psychotherapy where a therapist may be better able to evaluate the seriousness of a client’s threats to harm oneself or others based on a combination of physical, behavioral and verbal cues; assessing and evaluating threats and other emergencies is more difficult when conducting psychotherapy electronically.
As such, I will ask you where you are located at the beginning of each session so that if I am required to contact emergency personnel (police, hospital, fire), I can alert them of your location. We will not proceed with the session until emergency telephone numbers are located. This emergency plan is not to “track” you or keep “tabs” on you, but rather to ensure your safety.
If the session cuts out, meaning the technological connection fails, and you are having an emergency do not call me back, but call 911 or go to your nearest emergency room. Call me after you have called or obtained emergency services.
If the session cuts out and you are not having an emergency, hang up and I will wait two (2) minutes and then re-contact you via the electronic psychotherapy platform on which we agreed to conduct therapy. If you do not receive a call back within two (2) minutes then call me on the phone number I provided you (346-254-4285).
If there is a technological failure and we are unable to resume the connection, you will only be charged the prorated amount of actual session time.
You may be required to have certain system requirements to access electronic psychotherapy via the method set forth above. You are solely responsible for any cost to you to obtain any additional/necessary system requirements, accessories, or software to use electronic psychotherapy.
In order to maintain confidentiality and security for your electronic devices, please review the security protocols for the platform that will be used. If you have any trouble locating this information please contact me and I will assist you in locating the appropriate contact information.
Fees
The same fee rates shall apply for electronic psychotherapy as apply for in-person psychotherapy.