Product Description

In the last two decades, new communication technologies have dramatically changed the world in which mental health professionals and their patients live. Developments such as e-mail, online chat groups, Web pages, search engines, and electronic databases are directly or indirectly affecting most people's routines and expectations. Other developments are poised to do so in the near future. Already, for example, patients are acquiring both good and bad advice and information on the Web; many expect to be able to reach their therapists by e-mail. And already there is pressure from third party payers for providers to submit claims electronically. These technological breakthroughs have the potential to make mental health care more widely available and accessible, affordable, acceptable to patients, and adaptable to special needs. But many mental health professionals, as well as those who train them, are skeptical about integrating the new capabilities into their services and question the ethical and legal appropriateness of doing so. Those unfamiliar with the technologies tend to be particularly doubtful. How much e-mail contact with patients should I encourage or permit, and for what purposes? Why should I set up a Web site and how do I do so and what should I put on it? Should I refer patients to chat groups or Web-based discussion forums? Could video-conferencing be a helpful tool in some cases and what is involved? How do I avoid trouble if I dare to experiment with innovations? And last but not least, will the results of my experimentation be cost-effective? In this wide-ranging and practical handbook, five experts, each with a different vantage point and training, systematically guide readers through the new practice arenas already made possible by current information technologies--ranging from Internet-wired offices to wearable computers--and point to those on the horizon. Throughout, the authors clearly define terminology for the beginner and illuminate their points with rich, clinical vignettes and first-person accounts of the experience of pioneering practitioners. The book includes:
*an extensive overview of legal and regulatory issues, such as those raised by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA);
*concrete technical, ethical, and managerial suggestions summarized in a seven-step Online Consultation Risk Management model; and
*"how to" resource lists and sample documents of use to beginners and experienced professionals alike. For better or worse, no mental health professional today can avoid confronting the issues presented by the new technologies. The Mental Health Professional and the New Technologies: A Handbook for Practice Today will enormously simplify the job of thinking through the issues and making clinically, ethically, and legally prudent decisions.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1325765 in Books
• Published on: 2004-07-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 576 pages

Review

This is an excellent new book on this emerging technology. All clinicians will eventually need to learn the material presented in this very interesting book.
—Doody's Electronic Journal

Whether you are planning to design a web site, reply to email from a patient, start an online practice, establish a mailing list for professionals with interests similar to your own, or wonder where the online world is headed, you will find [in the book] the information you need.
—Ivan Goldberg, M.D.
Coordinator and Founder, PsyCom.Net; Webmaster, Depression Central

A first of its kind comprehensive handbook on the new technologies indispensable to mental health practitioners faced with today's escalating demands on time and the need to remain professionally competent. This collaborative project exhaustively looks at the array of new technologies and educates the professional as to their values and pitfalls. Readable for the beginner in technology. Delightfully sophisticated for the advanced user. And always full of mindful ethical practices.
—Norine G. Johnson, Ph.D.
Former President, American Psychological Association

From a national public policy perspective it is increasingly evident that the explosion of knowledge occurring within the communications and technology fields will truly revolutionize our nation's health care delivery and training systems in ways that only a few years ago were simply unforeseeable. Change is always unsettling. The magnitude of change facing today's practitioners and educators is simply unprecedented. And, without question, it will have a direct impact upon the daily lives of all mental health providers, regardless of their professional discipline, treatment orientation, and service delivery site.
—Patrick H. DeLeon, Ph.D.
Former President, American Psychological Association

This is an excellent new book on this emerging technology. All clinicians will eventually need to learn the material presented in this very interesting book.
—Doodys Electronic Journal

Whether you are planning to design a web site, reply to email from a patient, start an online practice, establish a mailing list for professionals with interests similar to your own, or wonder where the online world is headed, you will find [in the book] the information you need.
—Ivan Goldberg, M.D.
Coordinator and Founder, PsyCom.Net; Webmaster, Depression Central

A first of its kind comprehensive handbook on the new technologies indispensable to mental health practitioners faced with todays escalating demands on time and the need to remain professionally competent. This collaborative project exhaustively looks at the array of new technologies and educates the professional as to their values and pitfalls. Readable for the beginner in technology. Delightfully sophisticated for the advanced user. And always full of mindful ethical practices.
—Norine G. Johnson, Ph.D.
Former President, American Psychological Association

From a national public policy perspective it is increasingly evident that the explosion of knowledge occurring within the communications and technology fields will truly revolutionize our nations health care delivery and training systems in ways that only a few years ago were simply unforeseeable. Change is always unsettling. The magnitude of change facing todays practitioners and educators is simply unprecedented. And, without question, it will have a direct impact upon the daily lives of all mental health providers, regardless of their professional discipline, treatment orientation, and service delivery site.
—Patrick H. DeLeon, Ph.D.
Former President, American Psychological Association

Customer Reviews

The real missing manual
Dr. Maheu and her co-authors have done an astounding job in putting together this reference/guide/manual to the application of electronic technology in mental health. I cannot think of any issue that is not addressed. Topics range from voice recognition software to electronic record keeping, email to video conferencing, web-based client education to online clinical practice. Two chapters offer an extensive discussion of ethics and legal issues with cautions as well as guidelines for professionals who would venture in this area of behavioral health. Three chapters are devoted to managing a clinical practice incorporating the new technologies. Real-life vignettes scattered throughout the book give us glimpses into what our colleagues are doing. We are even pointed toward a site where someone has set up a chat room where professionals curious about but weary of this medium can try it out. The authors' approach is balance in not just touting the benefits of these new technologies, but also pointing out risks, barriers and the need for research. If you have developed a professional website or thought about doing so, communicated with a client by email, or mused about monitoring client progress via a computer you need to add this book to your reference library.