Standards for the Ethical Practice of Internet Counseling

The relative newness of the use of the Internet for service and product delivery leaves authors of standards at a loss when beginning to create ethical practices on the Internet. This document, like all codes of conduct, will change as information and circumstances not yet foreseen evolve. However, each version of this code of ethics is the current best standard of conduct passed by the NBCC Board of Directors. As with any code, and especially with a code such as this, created for an evolving field of work, NBCC and CCE welcome comments and ideas for further discussion and inclusion. Further, the development of these WebCounseling standards has been guided by the following principles:

These standards are intended to address practices which are unique to internet counseling and online Counselors,

These standards are not to duplicate non-Internet-based standards adopted in other codes of ethics,

Recognizing that significant new technology emerges continuously, these standards should be reviewed frequently,

Online Counseling ethics cases should be reviewed in light of delivery systems existing at the moment rather than at the time the standards were adopted.

Online Counselors who are not National Certified Counselors may indicate at their WebSite their adherence to these standards, but may not publish these standards in their entirety without written permission of the National Board for Certified Counselors.

The Practice of Internet Counseling shall be defined as "the practice of professional counseling and information delivery that occurs when client(s) and counselor are in separate or remote locations and utilize electronic means to communicate over the Internet".