Welcome to
CYBER PRACTICE
An Internet based tutorial for mental health clinicians who are exploring
the use of the Internet to enhance their practice.
Note: Underlined words or phrases are links to pages associated with the
topic under discussion. Simply click your mouse on the word or
phrase to go to that information
WHAT IS CYBER PRACTICE ?
Cyber Practice is the utilization of Internet technology to to enhance traditional practice and services lines. This enhanced practice includes the integration of e-mail, listservs, web pages, chat room technology, search engines, and other interactive web-based technologies to:
communicate with colleagues, patients, and clients
gather and disseminate information related to practice issues
engage in social, political, and professional advocacy
facilitate research
market your practice and services
develop and enhance your professional community
enhance your professional competency through online distance education
develop your networking capacity
So let's begin with the basics: Below you will find a table of contents. You can either scroll through the documents using the scroll bar to the right of the page, or jump to the specific content area by placing your cursor on the content area heading and clicking your mouse.
1. E-MAIL 2. LISTSERVS 3. CHAT ROOMS 4. SEARCH ENGINES 5. ONLINE COUNSELING
6. ONLINE CONSULTING 7. ASSOCIATIONS 8. ADVOCACY 9. RESEARCH 10. MARKETING
1. E-MAIL: Many practitioners, agencies, and nonprofit organizations are using e-mail to communicate both "in house" and with external stakeholders ( customers and clients). If you are working in an agency your computer system is probably "networked" meaning that your e-mail system is designed to communicate with others within the agency. Many networked agency systems either do not allow you to send e-mail to individuals outside the networked system, or may not allow Internet web browsing. If your networked system does allow these other features all the better! Check with your MIS ( management information systems) person in your agency if you are not sure. If you have external e-mail capabilities, or if you are a private practitioner you can have FREE e-mail services. Two of the most popular e-mail services are
HOTMAIL at http://www.hotmail.com
JUNO at http://www.juno.com
2. LISTSERVS: Listservs are an excellent way of communicating with groups of people at one time. Listservs require individuals to "join the list" as members. Once you have joined the specific listserv you will be able to send and receive e-mails to and from the list. A note of caution (from experience): when you are responding to an e-mail message "from the list" you are sending your response to ALL of the members of the listserv AT ONE TIME. Listservs are not used for individual responses to individual members, only to all listserv members at once.
A listserv "thread" is a series of listserv e-mails concerning a specific topic. Usually the topic heading is listed in the e-mail message as the subject. Most of the national professional organizations have a listserv for members. Note than some listservs will say "announce only" when you join. This means the organization or listserv moderator does not allow return comments from you to the listserv messages. This type of listserv is generally used by the administration of the organization to send organizational announcements, legislative alerts, etc. to members.
If you want to explore listservs further you might want to go to
These are FREE listserv management programs on the Internet. You can even start you own listserv here. I manage six listservs, and am a member of two more. Let's go to one of the listservs I manage , the National Network of Social Work Managers, and explore it.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NNSWM
3. CHATROOMS: Chat rooms can be alot of fun as well as educational, and a great way to communicate with colleagues and clients. There are two methods of communication in chatrooms depending on the chatroom software program; SYNCHRONOUS ( in real time) and ASYNCHRONOUS ( delayed time usually of a few seconds). A chat room is a designated place in "cyberspace" where individuals gather to communicate around a specific topic, not unlike a room full of people anywhere. Some chatrooms are limited to members of a specific group and some are open chats available to anyone. I am the chat host , affectionately (sometimes) known as HOST WPLC EDSW, of the national clinical social work chat provided by the Social Work Forum on America Online on Tuesday evenings from 9-10 p.m. The AOL social work forum is a community of social workers with a membership of over 1000 at any given time. Unfortunately, only AOl members have access to the chatrooms. If you are viewing this at the moment as an online presentation I am giving, or if you are an AOL MEMBER, I will take you to the AOL Social Work Forum chat rooms now if you type in the keyword: SOCIALWORK. If you are not an AOL member, or not a social worker, don't despair! There are a number of Internet chats available to you for free. Let's take a look:
BEHAVIOR ONLINE CHAT EVENTS at http://behavior.net/chatevents/index.html
THE COUNSELING ZONE at http://www.counselingzone.com
SOCIAL WORK ACCESS NETWORK at http://www.sc.edu/swan/chat.html
The CHILD WELFARE CHAT ROOM at http://hadm.sph.sc.edu/Students/KBelew/chatroom.HTM
VIRTUAL MEETINGS at http://hometown.aol.com/behavioralscicon/virtualmeeting.html
Or you can create your own chat room for free and invite your colleagues or clients by going to:
BESEEN at http://www.beseen.com and downloading the chat software.
Let's take a look at my online conference room I use with consulting clients. When you reach the webpage below, click on the chatroom button in the upper right hand corner. You can create a name and password if you like and go into the conference room. Although, I probably won't be there unless it's a scheduled appointment.
BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE CONSULTANTS CONFERENCE ROOM at http://www.Behavioralsci.com
4. SEARCH ENGINES: The Internet has millions of websites. it would be impossible to find what you're looking for without some direction. Search engines provide that direction for you. There are general search engines such as:
YAHOO at http://www.yahoo.com
INFOSEEK at http://infoseek.go.com
and specific search engines on mental health topics such as:
DR. GROHOL'S PSYCH CENTRAL at http://psychcentral.com/resources
GRASSROOTS SOCIAL SCIENCE SEARCH at http://www.andrews.edu/SOWK/grassroots.htm
SOCIALWORKSEARCH at http://www.socialworksearch.com
When using a search engine be specific! you can usually type in a phrase within parentheses such as "mental health" or single topics such as psychopathology. You can also usually broaden or narrow your search by using "and, or". For example "mental health" and psychopathology, "mental health or Psychopathology.
5. ONLINE COUNSELING: This is one of the hottest debates in the mental health field at the time. The development and practice of online or WebCounseling is happening as we speak. There are a number of clinicians from a variety of mental health disciplines providing online counseling through a variety of Internet technologies. The issues at the heart of this debate are confidentiality, licensure, insurance reimbursement, and ethical practice. Let's begin by looking at ethical practice standards. The National Board of Certified Counselors has developed the most thorough standards concerning ethical web-based counseling. These standards can be viewed at:
NBCC at http://www.nbcc.org/ethics/wcstandards.htm
The American Psychological Association has also developed ethical guidelines for the use of the telephone, teleconferencing, and the Internet. This information can be found at:
APA at http://www.apa.org/ethics/stmnt01.html
Some Internet mental health and health practitioner organizations have emerged that have developed their own code of ethics concerning Internet-based services. These can be found at:
THE HEALTH ON THE NET FOUNDATION at http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/Conduct.html
THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR MENTAL HEALTH ONLINE at http://www.ismho.org
Some ethical guidelines and discussion concerning web counseling can also be found at:
METANOIA at http://www.metanoia.org/imhs/isittx.htm
As the debates and discussion continue, many clinicians ARE practicing web counseling. The following sites are representative of this practice. I do not personally endorse these sites or practitioners. Most of these practitioners use either e-mail, or a combination of e-mail and chatrooms to provide services. These sites are simply used as examples.
ONLINE CLINICS at Http://www.onlineclinics.com
HEADWORKS at http://www.headworks.com/mail1.htm
There is even a Who's Who listing of Internet therapists that can be found at:
WHO'S WHO IN MENTAL HEALTH ON THE WEB at http://idealist.com/wwmhw/profiles/view.html
I provide some limited online counseling to clients who I have seen in
person at least once and who do not exhibit suicidality or other seriously
self-destructive behaviors. Primarily I use this means of counseling for
individuals who are house-bound due to medical illness, or who are away
temporarily at college, work assignments etc.. These services are not
reimbursable at this time. My online services can include e-mail and the
creation of a private chat room on America Online for AOL members. It
is possible for non AOl members to download
AOL Instant Messager for
free and then the individual is able to chat online in an Instant Message
with me.
6. ONLINE CONSULTING:
Online consulting and online coaching is a simple procedure in
that the client or client organization communicates with the consultant either
through e-mail or in a chat room (described above). I have found
this method to be extremely effective when working with organizations
out-of-state, or with executives who are too busy to leave their offices
and come to my consulting office. It is quite easy to e-mail documents in
Word format, edit, and revise written plans, etc.. Furthermore, there is
always a written and printable dialogue if you save your e-mails and word
documents. I frequently use my conference room on my Behavioral Science
Consultants website , or an AOL private chat room, to have "real time" meetings
with clients.
BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE CONSULTANTS at http://beseen3.looksmart.com/chat/rooms/j/11070
Another option is to create a web-based virtual office (An Intranet) using a free service like like INTRANETS at http://www.intranets.com . This site can also be used for associations. Here you are able to upload and download documents for all to share. .
7. ASSOCIATIONS: Professional mental health and health practitioners usually belong to their respective professional associations. Sometimes we may feel separate from our professional organizations. The Internet is a great way to feel connected again. All of the mental health professional associations are represented on the Internet, and most of the association websites are quite interactive; including professional news, listservs, chats, e-mail addresses, and links of interest. Let's briefly view some of those sites:
THE CLINICAL SOCIAL WORK FEDERATION at
THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SOCIAL WORKERS at http://www.naswdc.org
THE INTERNATIONAL EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROFESSIONALS ASSOCIATION at
THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION at http://www.apa.org
THE NATIONAL BOARD FOR CERTIFIED COUNSELORS at http://www.nbcc.org
THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPY at http://www.aamft.org
THE AMERICAN COUNSELING ASSOCIATION at http://www.counseling.org
THE AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION at
http://www.psych.org/main.html
THE AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC NURSES ASSOCIATION at
THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG ABUSE COUNSELORS at
http://www.naadac.org
8. ADVOCACY: My favorite Internet activity is Online political and social advocacy. As is the case in the "real time" world, there is a website for just about every political, religious, professional, and social "special interest" group. It is interesting to note that recent demographic research has indicated that most of the "powers that be" are more responsive to E-mails and online petitions than they might be to "snail mail" (letters) and telephone calls. This makes sense in that most individuals with Internet access are upper-middle class, educated, and politically active. These demographics unfortunately reveal that the poor and disenfranchised do not yet have this service available. All the more reason to advocate on the Internet for them!! A simple search on your Internet browser concerning your interest area will usually reveal numerous sites to explore. here are some that I use frequently:
THE FAMILY PRESERVATION AND CHILD WELFARE NETWORK at http://www.familypreservation.com
THE VOLUNTEER E-ADVOCACY PAGE at http://www.serviceleader.org/vv/activist.html
THE INTERACTIVE TOWN HALL , E-THE PEOPLE at http://www.e-thepeople.com
Homelessness advocates can advocate at the NATIONAL COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS at http://nch.ari.net
You can create online polls at NETVOTE at http://www.netvotes.com or
read and post your responses on the ONLINE ORGANIZING AND ADVOCACY page at http://www.coolboard.com/boardshow.cfm?msgboard=23277528214813&page=1&returnURL=&idDispSub=28719400123552
in addition, most of the professional organizations listed earlier have an online advocacy section
9. RESEARCH: Depending on your research topic, you may be able to simply type the topic in your Internet browser and be linked to hundreds of web sites related to information on your topic.In addition, the search engines mentioned earlier will lead you to many sources. Most state, local, and university libraries have some type of online search capabilities. Some specific research sites are:
BECAUSE-MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS at http://www.mental-health-matters.com
THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH ONLINE RESEARCH REPORTS at http://www.nimh.nih.gov/research/reportmenu.cfm
10. MARKETING: The Internet provides you the opportunity to market your services to virtually millions of people. But first you must first create a "web presence". As with most communities, it is necessary to let others know you exist, and participate in the community in which you work or reside. The Internet community is no different. If you say you live in Madison, Wisconsin but you had no house or apartment there, no mailing address, no telephone number, and no one ever saw you there, would anyone believe you lived in Madison, Wisconsin? So to dwell in cyberspace you must establish a residence. A website is that dwelling; that presence that lets other in the Internet community know you reside, and participate there. And just like renting or buying a house in your "real time" community, the type of "residence" in which you reside in your Internet community depends on what size "dwelling" you can afford. Building your website can be cheap or expensive. Again, it depends on what kind of presence you want to create on the net. Just like building a house, you can either build it yourself or contract with a builder who does this for a living (website developer). It can be a simple "dwelling" or a complex one. To build your own website you must have (or gain) some degree of building experience. This takes time and money. Most website builders have both a great deal of education and experience in this process. You can certainly gain that experience through the numerous web design course offered locally or nationally. I have learned web design myself using the AOL Press web building program on America Online. Your local computer store can provide you with website development software such as Front Page Express. Many people find it less time consuming to simply hire a website builder, particularly if you want a complex site. In addition to designing your site the website builder can maintain your site for you, submit your site to search engines, and increase the size of your site as your web presence grows. Our BSC website development consultant can assist you with this process. He can be contacted through our BSC website under :
Once you website is "on the web" you will need to determine if you want your site to be simply informational ( less complex) or interactive (more complex). Some ways to indirectly market the services offered on your website is to create a listserv and/or chatroom and add it to your website. As you saw earlier on my website I have added a chat room and also have a listserv for those interested in organizational development issues: you can view this listserv by going to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OrganizDev
which is attached as a link under organizational development resources on the BSC website.
Obviously you also need to have your e-mail address on your website so individuals will know how to contact you about the services you offer.
To provide a more interactive environment you can attach a chat room to your website as I mentioned earlier. The benefits of a chat room on your site are that you can communicate more directly with those viewing your site, and you have the opportunity to create an ongoing community of "chatters" who visit your site regularly. The potential drawback of a chat room on your site is that you need to be online regularly and facilitate the chat. You would need to decide the amount of time that you are able to commit to being online regularly at specific times. You can also develop an online newsletter and attach it to your website. Here is an example of INTER-SECTOR, the online newsletter of BSC.
BSC - INTER-SECTOR
You can also provide free web exposure to individuals as a community service on your website:
BSC - PROJECTS AND INITIATIVES
Or offer free information, assessments, etc:
BSC - ORGANIZATIONAL NEEDS ASSESSMENT
Or offer a free course:
BSC - STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES PROFESSIONALS
Your website needs to be sent to search engines in order for people to find you on the web, unless you have given your web address to those specific people If you want alot of "hits" ( Internet surfers viewing your site ) regularly you will need search engine assistance. ( see the previous section on search engines).
More direct marketing strategies include buying advertising space on search engines and other web pages, asking other websites to provide a reciprocal link from their site to yours after you have provided a link to their page on your site, purchasing a listing on pages designed to advertise your specific type of service, and paying for e-mail mass marketing services. E-mail mass marketing services can reach millions of individuals in a matter of seconds. However, like direct mail bulk advertising, many people find it offensive to receive information that they have not requested in their online mailbox, and generally delete it immediately and angrily without reading it ( I do !)
If all of this sounds too difficult to do yourself, you can join one of the free online mental health office sites like ISyke at http://www.isyke.com
11. DISTANCE EDUCATION: Another issue that brings up quite a bit of debate in professional mental health services is the validity and efficacy of Internet-based distance education. Distance education can be subdivided into three categories: 1. distance education leading to graduate and post graduate degrees, 2. continuing professional education, and 3. in-service /staff education and training within organizations. Let's briefly review each of these:
Degree education - Colleges and universities (both accredited and non-accredited) are increasingly offering all levels of education, either partially or completely, over the internet. Some examples of accredited graduate degree programs offering courses over the Internet are:
THE FIELDING INSTITUTE PH.D IN CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY at http://www.fielding.edu/psy/index.htm
THE ATHABASCA UNIVERSITY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN NURSING at http://www.athabascau.ca/htm/programs/grad/agd_nurs.htm
INDIANA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION MASTERS IN COUNSELING at http://www.indiana.edu/~educ/disted.html
You can also view a more complete listing of graduate schools (both accredited and non accredited) at:
DISTANCE LEARNING GRADUATE SCHOOL PROGRAMS at http://distance.gradschools.com
Continuing professional education - There are many online continuing education programs. The major issue is whether or not your respective state examiners board will accept the particular continuing education course. Always be sure to check with your state board concerning any online course. Some examples are:
C E CITY at http://www.cecity.com
CME ON THE WEB at http://www.cmeweb.com
Two CE courses created for social workers through the Maryland chapter of the National Association of Social Workers at:
and
A REVIEW OF THE NASW CODE OF ETHICS
The NASW National Office offers an online course also
ETHICAL ISSUES, HIV/AIDS, AND SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE
Since it can be rather difficult to find continuing education online, I have created on online continuing education clearinghouse website called CE-ONLINE.
Staff training /in-service education - Many agencies and organizations find it is more cost/time effective to provide staff training and development courses "in-house" using Internet education programs. These courses are designed for the individual organization based on staff education needs. Organizations can put their policies, personnel manuals, employee handbooks, etc.. online and have their staff complete the training and take a competency test to determine mastery of the content. As an example, I will show you a course I created for the Professional Employers Group in South Carolina. This course was designed to offer leadership training for the staff.
LEADERSHIP TRAINING FOR MANAGERS AND SUPERVISORS
I will take you to the distance education development page of BSC to see how this process occurs:
INTERACTIVE DISTANCE
EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT AT BSC
ADDITIONAL ONLINE RESOURCES - Some additional resources you may find helpful are the
FREE NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT LIBRARY at http://www.mapnp.org/library/index.html
PROFESSIONAL ETHICS resource page at http://hometown.aol.com/egeratylsw/ethics.html
SOCIAL WORK JOBS at http://www.socialservice.com
DELTA-T temporary mental health staffing jobs at http://delta-tgroup.com/main.htm
HUMAN SERVICES jobs at http://www.hspeople.com
For those of you interested in risk management issues check out AT HEALTH.COM's risk management page at http://www.athealth.com/Practitioner/Newsletter/FPN_4_33.html
and spend some time cyber networking at SHRINKS ONLINE at http://www.shrinksonline.com
SUMMARY: The Mental health profession is just beginning to harness the power of the Internet With new Internet applications being developed daily, we have only begun to realize the advantages of an enhanced practice through the integration of Internet technology and mental health practice. Professionals need to become more skilled in both the development and use of the Internet and in the multitude of ways in which this media can provide us with increased professional presence.
Chief Executive Officer
Behavioral Science Consultants, LLC