___________________________________ Code of Ethics for Counselors and Marriage and Family Therapists
Social Media and Technology • Counselors shall provide services pursuant to an appropriate written policy which regulates the use of social media and other related digital technology with respect to current and former clients. Policy shall also identify that client and counselor personal accounts are distinct from social media accounts used for professional purposes. • Counselors shall be familiar with the use of privacy and security settings of social media and other electronic platforms utilized for telemental health service provision. • Counselors shall not publish confidential client information on any social media platform, including updates, and blogs, without the consent of the client. To facilitate the secure provision of information, counselors shall inform clients prior to or during the initial session about secure and appropriate ways to communicate with them. Counselors also shall advise clients about the potential risks of sending messages through digital technology and social media sources. • Counselors who use digital technology for professional purposes shall only post information related to professional services, such as information concerning advocacy, educational purposes, and marketing, that does not create multiple relationships or threaten client confidentially. • Counselors shall respect the privacy of a client’s social media material and accounts and shall not access client social media accounts without specific client permission, a related discussion with the client, documentation of potential risks and benefits, and a specific clinical purpose. • Counselors shall avoid non-professional relationships
• Counselors, either prior to or during the initial session, shall inform clients of the purposes, goals, procedures, limitations, potential risks and benefits of telemental health services and techniques, and information about rights and responsibilities as appropriate to the telemental health service. • In the event that the client of telemental health services is a minor or is unable to provide legal consent, the counselor shall obtain a legal guardian’s consent prior to the provision of services unless otherwise required by State law. • Counselors shall retain documentation indicating the legal guardian’s identity and consent in the client’s file. • Counselors will provide clients of telemental health services with specific written procedures regarding emergency assistance situations related to a client. This information shall include the identification of emergency responders near the client’s location. • Counselors shall take reasonable steps to secure referrals for recipients when needed for emergencies. • Counselors shall provide information to clients concerning the importance of identifying personal contacts in the event of identified emergency situations and shall ask clients to identify such contacts. • Counselors also shall identify to the clients the circumstances in which the counselor will communicate with emergency contacts, and the information that will be shared with emergency contacts. • Counselors shall develop written procedures for verifying the identity of each telemental health client, their current location, and readiness to proceed at the beginning of each contact. Examples of verification include the use of code words, phrases, or inquiries, such as “Is this a good time to proceed?” • Counselors shall limit use of client information obtained through social media • sources (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter) in accordance with established practice procedures provided to the client at the initiation of services and as adopted through the ongoing informed consent process. • Counselors shall retain telemental health service records for a minimum of 5 years unless applicable state laws require additional time.
with clients online. This restriction includes connecting with or following client social media accounts.
OVERVIEW OF THE NBCC ETHICAL COMPLAINT PROCESS
The NBCC developed a process to review alleged ethics viola- tions by their NCCs and administer discipline if warranted. NCCs are bound by the decisions of NBCC. NCCs should have complete knowledge of these procedures and should visit the nbcc.org website to review the entire ethics section. The complaint process is very detailed, and for the purpose of this course, they are summarized as follows from the 2023 website on filing an ethics complaint [17].
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