At MACLSCS Ltd, We believe that the client needs to be informed of, and consent to, certain issues before beginning a therapeutic relationship with an On-Line counselor. Specifically the client should be informed about the process, the counselor, the potential risks and benefits of On-Line services, safeguards against those risks, and alternatives to those services.

The Processes of On-Line Counseling
The Problems with Text-Based Online Counseling
Privacy Issues
Potential Benefits of Online Counseling
Potential Risks of Online Counseling
Safeguard Against The Risks
Alternatives to Online Counseling
Proxies
Records Management



The Processes of On-Line Counseling

At MACLSCS Ltd, we employ e-mail, text chat, audio chat, and audio/video chat to establish a therapeutic relationship with clients in need on talk therapy. You, the client, initiate contact with the website and locate a counselor either by professional ability, location, language or culture. You provide that counselor with information about your unique situation and the counselor responds in a way they believe will guide you toward a more personally fulfilling life.

We know the usual form of On-Line counseling is e-mail and text chat. We, like everyone, offer both those capabilities only because they offer the greatest amount of anonymity and you are normally more open with yourself when writing than talking. We offer it but the client needs to know that there are possible misunderstandings inherent in the process.

The Problems with Text-Based Online Counseling

Loss of the non-verbal:Both Email and Text Chat modalities are text only. All nonverbal cues are missing. The use of humor, voice inflexion, and physical expression are nearly or completely impossible; therefore, every communication must be taken purely at face value, without any context clarifications. For these reasons we encourage incorporation of either our Audio or Audio/Video Chat. You get all the benefits of counseling On-Line, and most of the non-verbal parts of communication are present.

Computer and/or Writing Abilities: The counselor and client may have different typing speeds and we absolutely discourage the use of nearly all acronyms because of the confusion they cause. There may also be differences in computing abilities.

Time Delay: e-mail counseling is not real time and turnaround for you could be as long as 48 hours. Text Chat is relatively close to real time but there is usually a delay on each side waiting for the writing. Although we encourage either our Audio or Audio/Video Chat, we have to admit that they still cannot be classified as "real time" because of bandwidth and different connection speeds.

Client/Counselor Expectations: You may have an expectation that every question you have will be answered in a single email response. This is unlikely because your counselor may need clarification or their answer may cause you further questions.

Information Security: We must admit, because of the use of technology, your privacy cannot be 100% guaranteed, however you must know that we have employed every safeguard we can to protect every bit of information you provide.

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Privacy Issues

For the Clients Privacy: Because of the Technology used at MACLSCS Ltd Privacy issues are both reduced and magnified. There is a very remote possibility that an extremely smart hacker could defeat all the security we use. In reality it is actually much more likely that your neighbor could see you walking into your local counseling center.

For the Counselors Privacy: Privacy is actually more of an issue on-line. There are all the same privacy and confidentiality issues of a normal physical office, but again because of the Technology used at MACLSCS Ltd we request that any communications you have with a counselor not be released to anyone else. They are for you and your situation. Although a friend may benefit from the wisdom you have gained from your counselor, they may have other issues they do not share with you. Also when you visit a counselor in a physical office you will be able see diplomas and verify credentials without taking anything home with you. Online we provide much of that information or links to verify credentials online that you could keep copies of. We ask that you not do so out of respect for the counselors privacy.

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Potential Benefits of On-Line Counseling

1. You are able to communicate with your counselor at a time more convenient for you.
2. With e-mail counseling you have the ability to send and receive messages at any time of day or night. You can take as long as you want to compose your message before sending it. You automatically generate a record of communications you can refer back to.
3. You never have to leave messages with intermediaries, voice-mail and of course the much adored "telephone tag!" simply go away.
4. The biggest benefit is that people feel less inhibited online than in person.

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Potential Risks of Online Counseling

With online counseling there is a risk that e-mail messages could be misaddressed to the wrong person, which creates a confidentiality breach. Your message may not be noticed by the counselor. Confidentiality could be breached in transit by hackers or Internet service providers or at either end by others, like family members, with access to the email account or the computer. Extra safeguards should be considered when the computer is shared by family members, students, library patrons, etc.

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Safeguard Against The Risks

We have employed safeguards to limit the likelihood of information breeches.

1. myrinaconsulting.com is a secure, self contained website. We own our server do not share it with any other services. We will not ask you to open an account with any other service to contact us.
2. It is our policy that each of our counselors not share their computers with those outside their home, which is where we normally "work".
3. We have a policy that our counselors not communicate with clients outside our website. You, the client, should not receive therapeutic messages at your primary Email. You will instead get a message from our system letting you know there is a message from your counselor on the web site so you can log in and see it.

We ask that you take the following actions to protect the information also:

1. Never share your log-in information with anyone.
2. Limit who has access to your computer.
3. Do not share communications with your counselor with anyone else.

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Alternatives to Online Counseling

There are many alternatives to on-line counseling such as face to face counseling in a local counseling service, talking to a friend or relative, exercising, meditation, a combination of some or all of these, or doing nothing at all

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Proxies

There are times when a client cannot legally consent to counseling, such as a child or adolescent who need parental consent. In these cases we will need to make arrangements for the proxy to give their consent. This will be accomplished on a case by case basis.

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Records Management

As our system is completely electronic, we will be able to keep the complete record of each consultation. We will keep the record until two years after your last consultation. At that time we will completely destroy all the records we maintain. We will NEVER share any of your information with anyone without your expressed written permission.

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