Pros and Cons
The ethics statement about psychotherapy online prepared by the International Organisation for Mental Health Online advises that therapists need to inform clients of the pros and cons of working online. I endorse this idea, and quote their statements here in full:
automatically having a record of communications to refer to later
c. Potential benefits
The client should be informed of the potential benefits of
receiving mental health services online. This includes both the
circumstances in which the counselor considers online mental
health services appropriate and the possible advantages of
providing those services online. For example, the potential
benefits of email may include: (1) being able to send and
receive messages at any time of day or night; (2) never having
to leave messages with intermediaries; (3) avoiding not only
intermediaries, but also voice mail and "telephone
tag"; (4) being able to take as long as one wants to
compose, and having the opportunity to reflect upon, one's
messages; (5) automatically having a record of communications to
refer to later; and (6) feeling less inhibited than in
person.
d. Potential risks
The client should be informed of the potential risks of
receiving mental health services online. For example, the
potential risks of email may include (1) messages not being
received and (2) confidentiality being breached. Emails could
fail to be received if they are sent to the wrong address (which
might also breach of confidentiality) or if they just are not
noticed by the counselor. Confidentiality could be breached in
transit by hackers or Internet service providers or at either
end by others with access to the email account or the computer.
Extra safeguards should be considered when the computer is
shared by family members, students, library patrons, etc.