The Ethical Advantages and Disadvantages of Technology in Psychological Practice.
Historically psychological practice was conducted on a face to face basis however, recent technological advances have drastically changed the way in which psychological practice is conducted (Harris & Kurpuis, 2014). This has resulted in psychologists adopting electronic mediums such as video calls and text-based conversations to conduct therapy. Major concerns have been raised over such practices and has led to debates over the potential ethical advantages and disadvantages that technology can have in psychological practice. The core advantages were suggested by Allan and Roberts (2011), who indicated that ethical standards like respect, privacy and confidentiality …show more content…
It also recommended that should only publicly search a client if there is a genuine reason to, otherwise it is not worth the potential risk of jeopardising the therapeutic relationship and violating ethical standards. Collectively, it is evident that technology provides several ethical advantages towards psychology however, with advantages come potential disadvantages. A significant ethical disadvantage that technology can have in online psychological is the potential for misdiagnosis due to a lack of physical face to face contact (Montalto, 2014; Rochlen et al., 2004). This is a disadvantage for online therapy as face to face contact allows a psychologist to analyse non-verbal behaviours, which can be used to gain insight into a client’s emotional state and can serve as a tool to detect dishonesty (Recupero & Rainey, 2005). Whereas online therapy traditionally involves no direct face to face contact which results in the psychologist not being able to detect and analyse non-verbal features. These places the psychologist in a vulnerable position and sets them up to be manipulated by their clients (Rennie, 2001). Although, video therapy might be a solution to this issue there is no literature to my knowledge which has determined its effectiveness at detecting non-verbal features. Yet, its usage might be unrealistic for individuals with financial constraints, as it requires a webcam with a high enough pixel quality to accurately see a client’s facial features. An online psychologist can be manipulated by a client in two main ways, either through “faking good” or “faking bad” (Grieve & de Groot, 2011). Faking good occurs when a client overstates their positive psychological traits like morality and compassion whilst downplaying their
Historically psychological practice was conducted on a face to face basis however, recent technological advances have drastically changed the way in which psychological practice is conducted (Harris & Kurpuis, 2014). This has resulted in psychologists adopting electronic mediums such as video calls and text-based conversations to conduct therapy. Major concerns have been raised over such practices and has led to debates over the potential ethical advantages and disadvantages that technology can have in psychological practice. The core advantages were suggested by Allan and Roberts (2011), who indicated that ethical standards like respect, privacy and confidentiality …show more content…
It also recommended that should only publicly search a client if there is a genuine reason to, otherwise it is not worth the potential risk of jeopardising the therapeutic relationship and violating ethical standards. Collectively, it is evident that technology provides several ethical advantages towards psychology however, with advantages come potential disadvantages. A significant ethical disadvantage that technology can have in online psychological is the potential for misdiagnosis due to a lack of physical face to face contact (Montalto, 2014; Rochlen et al., 2004). This is a disadvantage for online therapy as face to face contact allows a psychologist to analyse non-verbal behaviours, which can be used to gain insight into a client’s emotional state and can serve as a tool to detect dishonesty (Recupero & Rainey, 2005). Whereas online therapy traditionally involves no direct face to face contact which results in the psychologist not being able to detect and analyse non-verbal features. These places the psychologist in a vulnerable position and sets them up to be manipulated by their clients (Rennie, 2001). Although, video therapy might be a solution to this issue there is no literature to my knowledge which has determined its effectiveness at detecting non-verbal features. Yet, its usage might be unrealistic for individuals with financial constraints, as it requires a webcam with a high enough pixel quality to accurately see a client’s facial features. An online psychologist can be manipulated by a client in two main ways, either through “faking good” or “faking bad” (Grieve & de Groot, 2011). Faking good occurs when a client overstates their positive psychological traits like morality and compassion whilst downplaying their