Finding technology’s role in the counseling relationship

A growing number of professionals say it’s time to embrace the potential that social media and other emerging technologies show for helping clients and counselors-in-training.

By Lynne Shallcross

It wasn’t talk therapy that Michelle Wade’s client needed most during crisis. It was text therapy.

The safety plan for Wade’s adolescent client dictated that she call Wade, a private practitioner in La Plata, Md., whenever she felt like cutting herself. But instead of calling, the client kept texting Wade. When Wade responded by calling the client back to try to de-escalate the situation, the girl would hang up on Wade, insisting she didn’t want to talk. The client would then explain the whole situation via text. “I clearly had an ethical obligation to communicate with her, [but] I needed to do it in a way that she was going to be receptive to,” says Wade, a member of the American Counseling Association who also works in a group counseling practice and is working toward her doctorate. “We had a discussion about the lack of confidentiality regarding [texting] and my uneasiness about it, but the fact of the matter was, I had to do what was in the best interest of my client. And in that situation, it was to text and calm her down that way.”

“I had to meet my client where she was at in that moment,” Wade continues. “She could not and would not communicate via voice, but she was willing to follow through with the safety plan and communicate her feelings with me [via text]. If I had fought that simply because it was ‘new and technical,’ the rapport and trust that she had with me would have been negatively impacted, if not destroyed. She was unwilling to listen to me via voice, so really I was only allowed to be helpful and effective through her chosen medium of communication.”

Generally, Wade tries to limit texting with clients to simply verifying or rescheduling appointments. But she acknowledges that she uses the technology when necessary, even giving each of her clients an individual code to send her so she can verify their identities. As for other technologies, Wade uses her iPad to play games with younger clients because she has found the approach keeps them entertained, engaged and talkative. She thinks Facebook can be a great avenue for counselors to advertise their services and says the social media site also holds potential as a tool to help clients talk in session about how others may perceive them. Wade has also heard of using Twitter to perform feelings checks with group members. While counselors must always keep in mind issues of confidentiality, Wade says the possible uses of technology and social media in counseling are limited only by the professional’s level of creativity.

Wade isn’t alone among counselors in trying to utilize emerging technologies in an effort to more effectively serve and reach clients. With the technological landscape continuously expanding and with social media, smart phones and iPads quickly becoming a part of everyday life, a growing number of counselors are looking to incorporate new technologies into their work. These technologies aren’t yet free of potential drawbacks or ethical considerations, but many counselors contend that if used properly, they could open up a whole new horizon for the profession.

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Source: Counseling Today