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There has been a fiery discussion about the need of using encryption by online therapists going on on one of the lists I follow closely.
Maybe not everyody is completely clear on what encryption is. If I work online with clients I will use a special email adress like hushmail or safe-mail because I know they are encrypted so they are less easy to hack. For chatsessions I will also use a medium that is encrypted so others do not listen in on what we are talking about. In my country there are no laws yet that online counsellors have to do this. But those therapists working f2f are used to having to secure their data safely by law. They have to have a locked cabinet in their rooms where they keep all their sensitive data. Why should online work be any different? For me that means that I keep my client info and emails on a password protected USB stick and that the stick is kept in the locked cabinet.
Not all therapists think encryption is neccesary, basically because it means we ask clients to do more before therapy can commence. We will ask them to set up for an encrypted email account, or to learn how encrypted word documents work. Some therapists are afraid that this will scare clients off, and who would want to steal emails anyway? On the one hand you may say, they have a point. But who would want to steal your medical data from your doctor's office? Yet would you feel comfortable if they did not take precautions to keep your data safe? I think clients are smart enough to set up an email account. Most people do have gmail or hotmail already and it is not more complicated than that. And we occasionally might have to spend a little extra time explaining something. I for one do not mind that.
What I also urge is that clients take care of where they keep their own emails and chat session transcripts. Almost everything that goes on in therapy is very confidential and not something you might want to share with others. So if you share a computer [at work or at home] investing in a simple password protected USB stick is always a good idea.
I would welcome one clear rule that covers Europe on online work, some way that clients can see who they can trust. I have insured this as much as possible by getting verified at the online therapy institute. This is an international website that any therapist can join. And some go the extra mile by getting verified. The online therapy institute check your website and make sure that you meet their standards for working ethically online and that includes using encryption.
Please share your views on this post. I would like to hear what others think about this whole debate.
Pacing... it seems so easy when you read it and it still seems easy when you write down your good intentions. But how do you stick to these good intensions?
Pacing is incredible important for both highly sensitive people and those with chronic pain that is why I am adding this blog entry on the subject.
Without good pacing and knowning when to stop you will make the same mistakes over and over again which will lead to stress, frustration and often extra pain or lack of energy.
Let me share with you what works for me:
- Prioritise what you have to do. First between what is absolutely essential and what you would like to do. Make sure that you drop what you don't have to do and that you focus on necessary and fun. [organizing will be a topic for another entry]
- Make another chart [I do this very easily by printing a weekly chart in outlook every week] If you do this during the weekend or monday morning you can pencil in your appointments and get a view of the week. If some days seem too busy, try to switch something around, or say no to something. Having it on paper helps to keep the clutter from your mind.
- Know your body and your limits. Keep a diary of activities for a while and in this diary note daily activities and how much energy they cost you, or how much pain.
- When you know your limits don't try to stretch them too far. You can always try to play around with the limits a little but don't go from a 16 hour work week to 30 in one go. Gently does it.
- Take outside influence into account. If damp weather affects your pain, take into acccount that you will be able to get less done on those days. If you are highly sensitive and have to be in a crowded room for a few hours, chances are that will affect you as well. Be smart and use this knowledge instead of fighting against it.
- Take breaks to do meditation or breathing excersises during a long day. Select something that suits you. For me short grounding excersises work best. They only take up to 5 minutes and make a huge difference. If I need a longer break guided meditation works for me as well.
- If you lose track of time easily, use a timer. With my RSI, the first couple of years I could hardly type. And since I did not get punished with pain on the spot but a day later, I used a timer to make sure I stayed within my boundaries. Select one that makes enough noise to be really irritating. :)
- Reward yourself for a job done well, but don't get angry if the pacing fails. Nobody is perfect and it might take some tries to find the right rythm for you. Stay positive and look at everything that went right!
I would love to hear from you what works for you to pace yourself and make sure that you don't work too hard.
This is also the first blog on which I used a nifty tool called Zemanta that pickes out media, related articles and in-text links for you to add in your blog without having to search for it.
Things to come...
Last week I asked friends what they would like to find on a website if they were looking for a coach/counsellor. I can keep adding what I like, but I would rather that it gives the reader what they are looking for. So keep an eye on my safe haven website as well as this blog for many new additions. To give you an idea of things to come:
- More factual information on what it means to be Highly Sensitive or to live with Chronic pain.
- When is pain chronic?
- Tips on conserving energy
- Book tips
- Pain diary [track your pain through the day]
- Mood tracker
- online diary
And much much more. If you have ideas of what you would like to see included here, just tell me. Who knows your idea might very well make it to my websites.
It looks so easy doesn't it? When you see a webpage, blog, etc that looks pretty and is driving a lot of traffic. Until you start your own marketing campaign and you come from a background were you never learnt how to do it and are not a wizard with computers. It is easy to get stuck.
It threatened to happen to me.
For a year I saved links to websites that were useful, made lists of what I would do in my marketing campaign and when I finally sat down to do something about it, I had so much that I did not know were to start.
In stead of panicking I sat down and asked myself. What would I ask a client to do in this situation?
Then it became clear to me and soon I had a shortlist.
- Ask for help. Talk to your own coach/experts for pointers
- Make a mindmap to structure.
- Set goals [week, month, half year]
- Don't make the goals so big I can't achieve them
- Go back to the marketing plan and break it down even more so it becomes manegable
- Select a few things to work on and concentrate on them for a while.
Right away the fun in marketing was back for me! I coached myself and am back on track.
More on coaching, counselling and marketing next week.
Image via Wikipedia
Image via Wikipedia
I would welcome one clear rule that covers Europe on online work, some way that clients can see who they can trust. I have insured this as much as possible by getting verified at the online therapy institute. This is an international website that any therapist can join. And some go the extra mile by getting verified. The online therapy institute check your website and make sure that you meet their standards for working ethically online and that includes using encryption.
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