About Online Clinical Work

We're interacting over a medium which did not exist five years ago. The World Wide Web has opened doors for these discussions and for other forms of communication. Mental health professionals are setting-up shop to market themselves to clients, and some are attempting individual clinical interactions with consumers. What are these services which are being offered? Who regulates them? What ethical issues are involved? At this point there are a lot more questions than answers.

I've dipped my toes in these waters with my Shareware Psychological Consultations. I clearly stated that I thought therapy was not possible on the Internet, but that single educational consultations were possible.

What do you think about offering services online? Are there some good examples of people doing this online that you'd like to share? Some examples of things to avoid? Here's a place where we can discuss these controversial topics.

Leonard Holmes, Ph.D.

• Psychotherapy on the Internet by Joseph Polauf, MSW, MPA, 7/20/98