Long time. No blogging. Update on client satisfaction and new supervision opportunity

[Art Matthews, MA LPC DCC]

I need to get better at adding to my blog. I've not yet managed to multitask like a Gen-Xer.

Today, I'm pretty excited. I send out a survey to our students asking those who had received counseling to rate their experience. One of the questions related to what resources students found valuable. Although I did not have a fantastic return on the survey, it was very positive and 25% of respondents specifically identified distance counseling as a resources that they found helpful.

My personal experience so far has been that the students that used distance counseling preferred telephone more than other options, and Skype comes in second. Almost no students request email or text based chat. I have had to educate students on the dangers of using cell phones rather than land lines but some have said they aren't really concerned and asked that I call the cell anyway. I'm thinking that I need to develop a release for that specifically in case the student later finds their conversations were intercepted and they face negative consequences. Put that on my To Do list. Anyone have such an animal already?

Another interesting development. A colleague that I met on LivePerson (when I was still associated with them) recently asked that I provide some supervision for her regarding her distance counseling. What an honor. Although I don't feel that I am an expert in the distance counseling field, it is a good opportunity for me to keep up with what I learned in the DCC course and strategize with others. Oh, BTW -- I received my Distance Credentialed Counselor certification in the mail this week... #795.

I keep wanting to develop an online private practice but haven't seen that the economy is going to support it. With insurance companies not paying for distance sessions, people out of work or struggling, there just isn't a way to make a career just doing distance counseling.

My friend with LP has said she thinks they are "going down". They have stopped accepting counseling "experts" and the demand is dropping. She said at least a few "Experts" appear to be inflating their client ratings with brand new "Experts" landing over a hundred ratings in a few weeks. Took me over 3 months to get 12 since not every client rated and I would not ask them to do so (UNETHICAL -- look it up in the ACA ethics).

For now I am very comfortable using distance as an adjunct to my counseling for our students out on rotations and clerkships. Since both the student and I are associated with the university, I'm not concerning myself with those across state line issues. The student doesn't pay me directly, I'm a service of the University so I've been told (but can't verify) that I would not have an issue.

Anyone have any feedback for me on that? Would I be exempt from the state licensing laws concerning distance counseling since both client and I are associated with a University? I only work with currently enrolled students. Like to know more if anyone has specific verifiable information.

Hey, DeeAnna - Distance Counseling Supervisor Credential in the works??? Sign me up!

[Cheryl Milde]

Good information Art; you also ask important questions as usual. :) I am only a few weeks out from the DCC credentialing seminar so that stage of having more questions than answers describes me perfectly. I am also feeling that sense of "yes I really want to pursue this and then no, it is too overwhelming". I truly believe that DC will continue to gain in usage and popularity -- seems like a no-brainer. Everybody's plugged in, right?! I love to hear about how your using DC in your position. The school is fortunate to have you leading the way making services for students even more available.