Here, I want to respond to your concerns and give some opinions that I think are more important for the reference of institutions and psychological counselors.
First come to the conclusion:
The effect of remote psychological counseling is not necessarily weaker than that of face-to-face counseling. The focus is not on "remote" or "face to face", but on "counselors" and "visitors".
An excellent consultant, whether remotely or face to face, can accurately listen, ask questions or give feedback, establish a truly high-quality consultation-visit relationship, understand the concerns of visitors on remote consultation, communicate frankly and give support as much as he can, but there is still no guarantee that remote consultation will achieve results. This has nothing to do with "distance", but consultation cannot completely guarantee the effect, and it depends on what kind of dance the consultant and the visitor jointly create.
If you are a visitor who is receiving psychological counseling, you will start an online counseling soon. Here are some suggestions for you:
1, is it necessary to go to online psychological counseling? Why do you plan to do "online" psychological counseling? Answer this question in your own mind and bring it to the consultation process.
2. Pay attention to your feelings and psychological activities when starting "remote psychological consultation". Excited? Doubt? Curious? Worried? Anxiety? What are your specific thoughts behind these feelings? Write them down and see what can be solved, or what you can communicate with the counselor and what you can't control, and bring them to the counseling process.
3. Since you decide to do long-distance psychological consultation, you should try to distinguish yourself from "video chat with friends" and "long-distance professional consultation". Like face-to-face consultation, there are strict time and space settings, starting and ending on time, and consultation is not disturbed or interrupted. Personal consultation can only be attended by visitors and consultants, and no one else can enter. The harder you work, the more attention and reflection you keep, and the more likely you are to benefit from it.
4. Fully understand the advantages and disadvantages, possible risks and coping methods of the following online consultation, discuss and decide the setting of remote consultation with the consultant, and express doubts and concerns with the consultant as much as possible.
The following are the rules of informed consent for online psychological counseling:
1. At present, eye-catching video conference/zoom video conference function is usually adopted as the technology of network consultation. On the morning of each consultation, the assistant will set the room number of the video conference and send it to the visitors. Visitors can enter the meeting room five minutes in advance according to the link, adjust the audio-visual effect and network environment, and ensure that the consultation can start on time and normally. ?
Remarks: 4G networks in remote areas may get stuck, so it is recommended to use a stable Wi-Fi or wired network.
2. Consultation settings in network consultation.
Network environment: choose mobile phone equipment with stable network, smooth mobile phone/computer equipment, not easy to be disturbed or interrupted, and sufficient power. The mobile phone turns on the Do Not Disturb mode, and tries to block messages from various communication software such as WeChat and QQ to ensure that the meeting will not be interrupted without reason during the negotiation.
Realistic environment: Choose a quiet, safe, comfortable and private room or place. Try not to choose cafes, restaurants, parks and other public places with background music. Make sure there is no noise or interference from others during the consultation.
Consultants and visitors who choose online consultation are obliged to maintain the time boundary and space boundary of video consultation/audio consultation process to ensure the privacy and integrity of consultation process. Too much interference or interruption may affect the unnecessary interruption of both parties, which is unfavorable to the negotiation itself.
3. Benefits, limitations and potential risks of remote professional work;
Compared with ground consultation, telecommuting is not limited by space, more flexible and convenient, and saves time and energy costs. For visitors, it may be easier to relax, less to hide, less shy and embarrassed, and there is no psychological pressure of face-to-face consultation. Face-to-face consultation may bring tension, cover-up, shyness, embarrassment and psychological pressure to visitors, thus hiding important information or delaying the consultation progress.
At the same time, remote consultation also has limitations in the following aspects: (1) It is not easy to collect data of nonverbal information, especially the body language information and psychological information of visitors that cannot be revealed in speech; (2) It is difficult for counselors to communicate and show their relationship through their body language and personal temperament image. On the contrary, face-to-face consultation is closer to the real interpersonal environment and more conducive to establishing a good and effective working alliance. (3) Some technologies, tools and scales of face-to-face consultation are difficult to use and implement in online consultation.
Potential risks:
1. Because online consultation relies on Internet software (such as ZOOM video conference platform, QQ, WeChat, etc. ), there may be data and information security issues, such as the risk of account disclosure and theft.
Suggestion: Consultants and institutions should provide technical support for online consultation by encrypting and selecting audio-visual support software with high safety factor. When sharing room number and account number, they must not disclose information or misoperation. When account security risks occur, consultants and institutions should adopt backup plans as soon as possible and inform visitors in time.
2. When the network environment/software is unstable, sudden phenomena such as jamming, jumping out and flashing back may occur.
Suggestion: Test the network environment and software environment in advance before consulting, and try to choose stable equipment and network. If you suddenly get stuck or retreat, you can contact the organization to inform the unexpected situation and solve the network problem in time. If the consultation time is delayed for a long time, consultants and institutions can negotiate with visitors and adjust the consultation time as appropriate.
3. Institutions and consultants promise that they will never record or video without the consent of visitors. However, if it is not handled properly through desktop sharing, screen recording, improper meeting room setting, account disclosure, etc., there may be a risk that the consultation process will be recorded.
Suggestion: Visitors and consultants should carefully check the computer or mobile phone software to see if there are problems such as desktop enjoyment, screen recording and account disclosure. If either party wants to record or video, it must obtain the permission of the other party and negotiate to confirm the scope and time of data use.
4. If you can't contact the consultant within the agreed time, you can contact the person in charge of the institution to negotiate the consultation and treatment plan during this period.
5. When the visitor or consultant thinks that the distance professional work is invalid, the consultant should consider face-to-face service. If the counselor can't provide face-to-face service, he should help the other person make recommendations.
Attached:
Five ethical requirements for long-distance professional work have been added for the first time in the Ethical Standard of Clinical and Counseling Psychology of Chinese Psychological Association (Second Edition).
Listed as follows:
1. When psychologists provide professional services through the Internet/telephone, in addition to routine informed consent, they also need to help people seeking professional services understand and agree with the following information:
(1) Geographical location, time difference and contact information of the remote service;
(2) Benefits, limitations and potential risks of remote professional work;
(3) the possibility of technical failure and treatment scheme;
(4) Emergency procedures when unable to contact a psychologist.
Secondly, psychologists should inform professional service seekers of the confidentiality restrictions of electronic records and remote service processes in network transmission, and inform the relevant personnel of professional service seekers (colleagues, supervisors, case managers and information technology personnel) whether they have the right to consult these records and consultation processes. Psychologists should take reasonable preventive measures (such as setting user's password, website password, consultation record document password and so on). ) to ensure the security of information transmission and storage.
3. Psychologists must confirm the true identity and contact information of those who seek professional services when working remotely, and also confirm the specific geographical location and emergency contact information of both parties to ensure that the latter can effectively take protective measures in crisis situations.
4. Psychologists should verify the true identity of those who seek professional services through the Internet/telephone and provide professional services, so as to ensure that the other party is the object of reaching an agreement with them. Psychologists should provide electronic links to professional qualifications and professional certification institutions, and confirm the effectiveness of electronic links to protect the rights of those seeking professional services.
Psychologists should understand the necessity of maintaining professional relationship with people who seek professional services. Psychologists should discuss with the latter and establish professional boundaries. When professional service seekers or psychologists think that remote professional work is invalid, psychologists should consider face-to-face service. If the psychologist can't provide face-to-face service, he should refer the other person.