A Live Counseling Session Online
02/01/99
| Leonard Holmes, Ph.D. http://mentalhealth.about.com |
A counseling session is about to be broadcast into your living room live via the Internet. We are told that these will be real counseling sessions between two people who have never met. The counselor is a member of the 1-800-THERAPIST network and the client's feed are being paid partly by a scholarship.
My first reaction to this was concern for the client's privacy. Several years ago someone came up with the idea of filming three great therapists interviewing the same client. These "Gloria" films have been used in psychotherapy training for years. There have been sequels illustrating different schools of psychotherapy.
The "Gloria" films could be edited, and we saw only the finished product. A live counseling session cannot be edited. We will see whatever is happening - at the time that it is happening. This introduces some additional variables into the ethical mix. It seems that we are going to see a live session "because we can." Is this enough reason? Kevin Grold, Ph.D. puts the event into a historical context on the site, but he doesn't really explain the need to have the session live. Why not tape it (or save it to disk) and show it an hour later? This might provide some additional protection to the client in case something is revealed that is not intended.
Dr. Grold has assured me that the client will sign an informed consent statement which will give permission to be Online. Additional protection, according to Grold, will be provided by showing only the back of the client, and showing the face of the therapist. Licensed professionals will be able to comment on the session as it develops in a password-protected area.
The purpose of this event is to help the public understand more about what happens in counseling and psychotherapy. We rarely get an opportunity to sit in as observers on a counseling session. On the other hand, we rarely have the opportunity to broadcast a session over the Internet. Will the presence of a camera alter the process in the room? Of course it will. What we'll really get to see is how a real live counseling session looks when there is a camera in the room.
I expect that this will be quite valuable for some people. If you've wondered about counseling or therapy, by all means tune in. Keep in mind that the camera adds a factor not usually present, but enjoy this rare opportunity to observe the process. Putting a human face on the process may help reduce the stigma which still exists in many quarters.
Here's where the sessions took place 2/7/99 (weekly for 5 weeks).
| Leonard Holmes, Ph.D. http://mentalhealth.about.com |
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