9.2 Distance Counseling, Technology & Social Media

ACA Section H is Distance Counseling, Technology, and Social Media. Mississippi Rule 7.5 is Practice of Distance Professional Services (Telemental Health). The Pass/Fail JP exam can test either source or both in one stem. Chapter 4 of this study guide already walks Rule 7.5 as an administration topic. This section teaches the 2014 Code's H.1–H.6 duties and then shows where Current.pdf Rule 7.5, Rule 4.3.B.2, and Rule 1.4 add Mississippi-only gates. This OpenExamPrep section is independent study material. It is not a Board, CCE, NBCC, or ACA publication.

The Section H introduction reminds counselors that the profession is no longer limited to in-person, face-to-face interactions. Counselors actively attempt to understand evolving distance counseling, technology, and social media resources, become knowledgeable about them, understand additional confidentiality and legal concerns, and make every attempt to protect confidentiality and meet legal and ethical requirements for those resources. Knowledge is not optional just because the counselor "mostly" works in an office.

H.1 Knowledge, competence, and two jurisdictions

H.1.a Knowledge and Competency: Counselors who engage in the use of distance counseling, technology, and/or social media develop knowledge and skills regarding related technical, ethical, and legal considerations (for example, special certifications, additional course work). Mississippi overlay: Rule 7.5.3 requires verification of Telemental Health training by either the CCE Board Certified-TeleMental Health (BC-TMH) credential or an equivalent credential recognized by CCE, or professional training of a minimum of nine (9) clock hours covering all seven named topics: (i) HIPAA compliance for Telemental Health; (ii) ethical and legal issues in Telemental Health, including confidentiality/privacy; (iii) crisis planning and protocols; (iv) choosing and using technology; (v) orienting clients; (vi) telemental health settings and care coordination; and (vii) appropriateness of Telemental Health. That training may be graduate-level academic training documented on the syllabus or a CE course documented by certificate. A generic ethics hour that never names those seven topics does not satisfy Rule 7.5.3. A P-LPC has an extra gate: Rule 7.5.3.c allows P-LPC TeleMental Health only with approval from that P-LPC's LPC-S, and that LPC-S must be designated by the Board as a Distance Professional Services provider.

H.1.b Laws and Statutes: Counselors who engage in the use of distance counseling, technology, and social media within their counseling practice understand that they may be subject to laws and regulations of both the counselor's practicing location and the client's place of residence. Counselors ensure that clients are aware of pertinent legal rights and limitations governing the practice of counseling across state lines or international boundaries. Mississippi Rule 7.5.2 is the counting-rule twin of that sentence: the professional must hold a license in good standing in both the location where services are provided by the professional and the location of the recipient of the services. Rule 7.5.1 still also requires the person to be a practicing P-LPC, LPC, or LPC-S in Mississippi. BC-TMH training does not waive the recipient-location license. Sitting in Jackson does not convert an Alabama dorm room into Mississippi. Chapter 4's Jackson-and-Alabama-dorm scenario is the same dual-location fact pattern; on an ethics-labeled item, cite H.1.b and Rule 7.5.2 together.

H.2 Informed consent, limitations, and encryption

H.2.a Informed Consent and Disclosure: Clients have the freedom to choose whether to use distance counseling, social media, and/or technology within the counseling process. In addition to ordinary face-to-face informed consent, the following issues unique to distance counseling, technology, and/or social media are addressed:

• distance counseling credentials, physical location of practice, and contact information;
• risks and benefits of engaging in the use of distance counseling, technology, and/or social media;
• possibility of technology failure and alternate methods of service delivery;
• anticipated response time;
• emergency procedures to follow when the counselor is not available;
• time zone differences;
• cultural and/or language differences that may affect delivery of services;
• possible denial of insurance benefits; and
• social media policy.

H.2.b: Counselors acknowledge the limitations of maintaining the confidentiality of electronic records and transmissions. They inform clients that individuals might have authorized or unauthorized access to such records or transmissions (for example, colleagues, supervisors, employees, information technologists).

H.2.c Acknowledgment of Limitations: Counselors inform clients about the inherent limits of confidentiality when using technology. Counselors urge clients to be aware of authorized and/or unauthorized access to information disclosed using this medium in the counseling process.

H.2.d Security: Counselors use current encryption standards within their websites and/or technology-based communications that meet applicable legal requirements. Counselors take reasonable precautions to ensure the confidentiality of information transmitted through any electronic means. A consumer video app with no encryption story is not H.2.d compliance just because both parties like it.

H.3 Client verification

H.3: Counselors who engage in the use of distance counseling, technology, and/or social media to interact with clients take steps to verify the client's identity at the beginning and throughout the therapeutic process. Verification can include, but is not limited to, using code words, numbers, graphics, or other nondescript identifiers. One login at intake does not last the entire episode of care if a household member later joins the same device. Mississippi crisis overlay: Rule 7.5's nine-hour list names crisis planning and protocols as a required training topic, which is how a JP stem can combine H.3 identity checks with local emergency contacts from H.2.a's emergency-procedures bullet.

H.4 Distance counseling relationship

H.4.a Benefits and Limitations: Counselors inform clients of the benefits and limitations of using technology applications in the provision of counseling services. Such technologies include, but are not limited to, computer hardware and/or software, telephones and applications, social media and Internet-based applications and other audio and/or video communication, or data storage devices or media.

H.4.b Professional Boundaries in Distance Counseling: Counselors understand the necessity of maintaining a professional relationship with their clients. Counselors discuss and establish professional boundaries with clients regarding the appropriate use and/or application of technology and the limitations of its use within the counseling relationship (for example, lack of confidentiality, times when not appropriate to use).

H.4.c Technology-Assisted Services: When providing technology-assisted services, counselors make reasonable efforts to determine that clients are intellectually, emotionally, physically, linguistically, and functionally capable of using the application and that the application is appropriate for the needs of the client. Counselors verify that clients understand the purpose and operation of technology applications and follow up with clients to correct possible misconceptions, discover appropriate use, and assess subsequent steps.

H.4.d Effectiveness of Services: When distance counseling services are deemed ineffective by the counselor or client, counselors consider delivering services face-to-face. If the counselor is not able to provide face-to-face services (for example, lives in another state), the counselor assists the client in identifying appropriate services. Ineffective video work is a referral-and-transition problem, not a reason to keep billing a failing modality.

H.4.e Access: Counselors provide information to clients regarding reasonable access to pertinent applications when providing technology-assisted services.

H.4.f Communication Differences in Electronic Media: Counselors consider the differences between face-to-face and electronic communication (nonverbal and verbal cues) and how these may affect the counseling process. Counselors educate clients on how to prevent and address potential misunderstandings arising from the lack of visual cues and voice intonations when communicating electronically.

Mississippi Rule 1.4 overlay on H.4: asynchronous methods (communication in separate time frames, including but not limited to text messaging, email, and chat rooms) are not an acceptable practice of counseling in Mississippi. ACA H discusses a wide range of technology applications. Current.pdf does not let a Mississippi P-LPC, LPC, or LPC-S treat text-message therapy as a counseling modality. Distance supervision has the same format gate: Rule 4.3.B.2 secure synchronous video only, with phone/email/chat reserved for emergencies. Do not answer an H.4 stem as if Mississippi authorized email counseling because Section H lists telephones and applications among technologies counselors must explain.

H.5 Records and web maintenance

H.5.a Records: Counselors maintain electronic records in accordance with relevant laws and statutes. Counselors inform clients on how records are maintained electronically. This includes, but is not limited to, the type of encryption and security assigned to the records, and if/for how long archival storage of transaction records is maintained.

H.5.b Client Rights: Counselors who offer distance counseling services and/or maintain a professional website provide electronic links to relevant licensure and professional certification boards to protect consumer and client rights and address ethical concerns.

H.5.c Electronic Links: Counselors regularly ensure that electronic links are working and are professionally appropriate.

H.5.d Multicultural and Disability Considerations: Counselors who maintain websites provide accessibility to persons with disabilities. They provide translation capabilities for clients who have a different primary language, when feasible. Counselors acknowledge the imperfect nature of such translations and accessibilities.

H.6 Social media — the actual 2014 letters

The 2014 Code's social media block is four standards, H.6.a through H.6.d. Teach the letters as printed, not as a three-bullet paraphrase.

H.6.a Virtual Professional Presence. In cases where counselors wish to maintain a professional and personal presence for social media use, separate professional and personal web pages and profiles are created to clearly distinguish between the two kinds of virtual presence. One mixed "friends and clients welcome" profile fails H.6.a. The glossary distinguishes a professional virtual relationship (business accounts that cannot be linked back to personal accounts) from a personal virtual relationship (for example, friending on social networking sites using personal accounts).

H.6.b Social Media as Part of Informed Consent. Counselors clearly explain to their clients, as part of the informed consent procedure, the benefits, limitations, and boundaries of the use of social media. That is why H.2.a's last bullet is "social media policy." Silence is not a policy.

H.6.c Client Virtual Presence. Counselors respect the privacy of their clients' presence on social media unless given consent to view such information. Searching a client's public posts, private-looking profiles, or tagged photos because the counselor is curious, worried, or "just checking risk" without documented client consent is an H.6.c problem. The Code does not create a standing investigative license to browse clients. If a later ethics file asks why the counselor viewed the account, "I was being thorough" is not the H.6.c text.

H.6.d Use of Public Social Media. Counselors take precautions to avoid disclosing confidential information through public social media. A vague "tough session today with a Jackson teen" post, a photo of a waiting-room whiteboard, or a story that is identifiable to anyone who knows the family is an H.6.d miss even if the client is not named.

Rule 7.5 renewal CE and fee overlay

Rule 7.5.4: at license renewal, LPCs must document two (2) hours of continuing education in Telemental Health counseling and P-LPCs must document one (1) hour. Those hours are included as part of the required continuing education requirements for renewal — inside the LPC 24 / P-LPC 6 totals taught in Chapter 4, not stacked on top. Rule 7.5.5: no licensing fee is assessed for the Distance Professional Services provider designation. Rule 7.5 still does not authorize practice from a lapsed or non-practicing status, and it does not replace H.2 informed consent or H.3 identity verification.

JP scenario: the public post and the out-of-state laptop

Kai is a Mississippi LPC in good standing with BC-TMH documentation and a DPS designation. Kai's adult client moves to a residence in another state and wants to continue weekly video. Kai also keeps a single social-media profile used for friends and for "practice visibility," regularly reads the client's public posts "to stay clinically current" without asking, and later tweets that a named Jackson client no-showed. H.1.b and Rule 7.5.2 require good-standing licensure in the recipient's location as well as Kai's. H.6.a requires separate professional and personal profiles if both presences exist. H.6.c requires client consent before viewing the client's social-media presence. H.6.d forbids disclosing confidential information through public social media. Encryption and BC-TMH do not cure those four misses. Confirm the live Current.pdf and the 2014 H.6 letters before exam day.