Guidelines and overview of online counseling and websites for counseling

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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

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

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

7. 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

8. 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…

9. 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

10. Several books on online counseling Resources

11. 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

12. … Questions