This is a recording of a live webinar presented by Dr. Tonya Johnson to members of the Florida Mental Health Counselors Association (FMHCA) on Friday, 7/27/18. Many mental health counselors are interested but hesitant to practice counseling online, also known as distance counseling. Distance counseling carries additional risks related to technology, ethics, and the potential of handling a crisis situation with a client who is in a separate physical location. Understanding the laws and ethics that apply to the practice of distance counseling such as HIPAA and HITECH can ease this concerns and ultimately expand counseling services to more clients. This webinar will review basic technology requirements and ethical considerations for distance counseling, as well as how to use distance counseling to benefit clients in a variety of clinical settings.

Learning Objectives:

Describe ethical and legal distance counseling practices in Florida.
Discuss how HIPAA and HITECH regulations apply to distance counseling.
Explain how distance counseling can benefit clinicians and clients across different counseling settings.

About the Presenter:
Tanya Johnson is a private practice owner and instructor at University of Seattle. She has been practicing distance counseling for the past four years. Dr. Johnson has conducted research and presentations regionally and nationally on technology and counseling, and cowrote a curriculum leading to the Distance Certified Counselor credential approved by CCEGlobal.