Can Online Counseling for Drug and Alcohol Addiction Problems Be Effective?

these services.

Loved Ones of an Addicted Person

Spouses, lovers, friends, co-workers, parents, brothers, sisters, and sons and daughters, to name a few, can be concerned that the person they care about may have an alcohol or other drug problem. When adult children are concerned about use by a parent, the term “Adult Child of an Alcoholic or Addict” (ACOA) may apply. Persons close to an individual with a drug or alcohol need help for their natural feelings of confusion, hurt, anger, and loneliness. Online services can provide support, education, and recommendations for these concerned persons.

Cautions

Persons with serious emotional or psychiatric conditions (such as, but not limited to, eating disorder, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia), not stabilized through traditional treatment by a qualified mental health professional are not appropriate for the help offered online and should seek help from such professionals before accessing online services. These patients can, when stabilized by appropriate treatment, benefit from online counseling.

Persons who are depressed and thinking of harming themselves or others are also not appropriate for online help and should get help immediately by calling a crisis line, going to the Emergency Room of a hospital, or seeking other immediate help. These patients can, when stabilized by appropriate treatment, also benefit from online counseling

Persons who have a pattern of using addictive substances on a daily or almost daily basis need to access face-to-face evaluation and treatment service providers to address possible medical and other problems associated with withdrawal that may accompany physical dependence, before using online services available here.

Limitations

1. By its nature, internet counseling can be interrupted by technological difficulties beyond the control of either the counselor or the client. Before services are provided, the client will be given suggestions for alternative methods for contacting the counselor should disruptions in the client’s service occur (for ex., a public library). The counselor should pledge that should technical difficulties result from his/her personal computer or other internet access, the counselor will have alternative internet access readily available.

2. The visual and auditory cues available during face-to-face counseling are, of course, not available in internet counseling. Therefore, it is vital that both the client and the counselor be diligent in seeking clarification of any communications, as needed.

3. The addictions counselor must at the outset of the counseling relationship help the client to identify local therapists and other treatment providers, including crisis services.

4. The addictions counselor must include safeguards to keep client information confidential and protected from unauthorized access. Client information, including history, diagnosis, treatment recommendations, and progress notes, should be for the counselor’s eyes only. No one else must have access to this information. The information should be retained on a safeguarded CD for one year after the counseling relationship has ended, or for a longer or shorter period of time dictated by the client.


Under the circumstances outlined in this article, online counseling of persons with drug or alcohol abuse or addictions can be effective.

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