Introduction

Students come to college with a variety of challenges. The primary purpose of counseling is to aid students in making decisions related to their future career, academic or educational, and personal or social needs. Online counseling can be a viable option for those needing assistance.

What is Online Counseling?

Online counseling makes use of computers and other technologies to enable communication between a counselor and a client. E-mail, for instance, is one form of written communication that can be used in the helping process. E-mail is an asynchronous form of communication in that one sends a message then waits to receive an answer. Through online counseling, the student can seek services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, night or day, from any location having access to technology and services.

How Can Students Use Online Counseling?

Online counseling provides a mechanism for continued contact between the student and a counseling center. Through online counseling, the challenges and concerns of daily living inherent with being a college student can be addressed by a certified counselor or a licensed professional counselor. The counselor can provide resources both online and in person to the student. Records of what has transpired can be available for a permanent record. The student or counselor can review what has been written before or after it was sent.

For the student who needs the services of a counseling center, online counseling may be another alternative for receiving counseling services. This particularly applies to the student who needs to address an issue but is many miles from the counseling location. Online counseling can be made available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with the policies for replying to the concerns or challenges of the student determined by the regulations put in place by the counseling center or the community college.

Serving the College Student

Supporting students through online counseling services can occur with the appropriate resources and organization. What exactly is needed?

Staffing

Individuals providing counseling services, whether face to face or online, should possess the necessary education, credentialing and/or licensure. Individuals should have a minimum of a master's degree in counseling and be properly certified or licensed. Counselors providing online counseling are strongly encouraged to take an online course to acquaint them with the online counseling process. Credential and licensure requirements from state to state may vary. Individuals should check with the licensure board in his/her state as well as certification boards to make sure they are abiding by the laws and regulations of that state concerning counseling and online counseling. For more information, go to the following websites: American Counseling Association at http://www.counseling.org/PublicPolicy/TP/ResourcesAndReports/CT2.aspx; American Association of Counseling State Boards at http://www.aascb.org/; and International Society of Mental Health Online at http://ismho.org/issues.

Responsibilities

The counseling center should be promoted whenever and wherever possible. The counseling professional should develop brochures and websites announcing counseling services both face to face and online. Making presentations at new student orientations and addressing the services to current students as well as faculty will promote the services offered by the counseling center. Articles submitted to the school paper as well as the local newspapers will further inform the community of available counseling services. Do not promise services that you or the community college cannot provide.

For online counseling, the counseling center should consider establishing a turn around time –usually within 24 hours. The student and the counseling center should have a written agreement that e-mail will not be shared with others and the counseling center should provide informed consent on use of online counseling. For each student, netiquette guidelines should be addressed for conducting online counseling. For messages to be kept confidential, encryption software should be used.

Equipment

Standard computer equipment with an Internet connection and a web browser for both the counselor and the student provides the basic setup for web-based counseling. Additional options may include an email program; a chat program; a video conferencing program and webcam; a website; a domain name; a web-hosting account; and security software/hardware. Always verify needs with the technology department within the college so that correct information is provided to the student. It is extremely important to encrypt documents that are private.

Strategies and Procedures

It is preferred that the counselor and client have at least one “face to face” session before beginning on-line counseling in order to evaluate whether on-line counseling is appropriate. Determine what equipment is available to the student and whether any needs to be purchased. The vocabulary of online counseling needs to be addressed. For instance, what does chat, counseling, cyberspace, disinhibition, email, emoticons, here and now, IM’ing, internet MB, nonspecifics, texting, therapy, f2f, therapeutic alliance and treatment mean when addressing online counseling?

Paper work needs to be completed that complies with policies and procedures of the college as well as securing personal information on the client. The client is given a professional disclosure form to read and, if required, signed, to indicate: the education and credentials of the counselor; what services will be provided; theory used; confidentiality issues; cost; length of sessions; emergency phone numbers; etc. A second copy should be maintained by the counselor for his or her file.

Both parties should agree to a subject header to be used with e-mail exchanges so they know it is not spam. The counselor and student should configure an automatic reply message to acknowledge receipt of messages. Always archive, on separate disk or CD-Rom, all emails in a confidential password location. In the event that technology fails, establish a phone contact procedure to handle emergencies. The counseling center/counselor should have a block ending on the e-mail noting that the communication is confidential and should not be shared without both parties’ written consent; and that in the event of an emergency the student should call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.

Since the client has access to a computer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the counselor and client must agree on a reply time to questions or inquiries submitted by the client. This is typically within 24 hours during a work week. Documentation of each counseling session must be prepared by the counselor and filed in a confidential manner. Addressing areas related to confidentiality are extremely important. It is important to remember that the role of the counselor is to: validate the client’s feelings, avoid criticism that is not helpful, ask clarifying questions, demonstrate empathy for the client’s pain, avoid disclosures that make you the counselor feel uncomfortable, consider motives behind your statements, give honest feedback, and show kindness…. It’s contagious! (Kraus, Zack, & Stricker (2004 p. 211).

Ethics

Concepts of ethics and morality have been addressed since the beginning of time. It is written that we should treat each other as we would like to be treated. This is the basis of ethics. Both ACA and NBCC offer guidelines on Internet counseling. While counseling professionals should be aware of all aspects of the ethical codes of the American Counseling Association (ACA) and the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC); those sections related to Internet counseling should be of particular interest for those conducting online counseling. Websites that can be of assistance are: American Counseling Association (ACA) http://www.counseling.org/Resources/CodeOfEthics/TP/Home/CT2.aspx and the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) http://www.nbcc.org/webethics2.

Institutional Policies

For those community colleges offering counseling, a review of institutional policies should be made with attention paid to policies related to online counseling.

Conclusion

While the computer has been around for many years, the use of the computer for online counseling is a recent occurrence and a relatively new discipline. The field of online counseling is still dynamic and forming. Rules policies, procedures and regulations are only recently (within the last five years) being addressed. The idea that a person any place, at any time, can have access to a counseling professional is unique. It is, however, a counseling service that deserves more research and follow-up data to see if it is beneficial.

Resources

• International Society of Mental Health Online, http://www.ismho.org
• Metanoia, http://www.metanoia.org/imhs/history.htm
• Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications, http://www.wcet.info
• University of Buffalo, The State University of New York, http://www.student-affairs.buffalo.edu/shs/ccenter/email.shtml
• Therapists Online: Private Healthcare Online Clinics, http://www.OnlineClinics.com
• Ethics Code, www.EthicsCode.com
• U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/privrulepd.pdf
• National Association of Social Workers, http://www.socialworkers.org
• American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, http://www.AAMFT.org
• American Psychological Association, http://www.APA.org
• Health on the Net Foundation, http://www.hon.ch

References

Bloom, J. & Walz, G. (Eds.). (2000). Cybercounseling and Cyberlearning. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.

Kraus, R., Zack, J. & Stricker, G. (Eds.). (2004). Online Counseling. New York: Academic Press.

Tyler, J. & Sabella, R. (2004). Using Technology to Improve Counseling Practice. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.

Waterhouse, S. (2005). The Power of eLearning. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.