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The use of technology and social media networking sites by behavioral health professionals and peer support specialists for personal and professional purposes has increased. As such, ethical and practice issues like self-disclosure in postings, unintentional boundary crossings and violations, privacy and security problems reflect just some of the new dilemmas clinicians and peer support specialists will encounter. In recent years there has been guidance from professional/peer standards and ethical codes. There still remains a need for providers to remain vigilant about practice in this ever-changing landscape of this digital world.

This 7-week, in-depth, online learning series will address common ethical dilemmas behavioral health and peer support specialists face related to the use of technology, social networking sites, and web-based search engines. Case scenarios, group discussion questions related to videos, practice sessions, and other learning activities will be used to highlight these dilemmas and encourage discussions among participants related to: 1) Ethics, competency, and the use of technology; 2) Digital styles related to Digital Novices vs. Digital Pros; 3) HIPAA and 42 CFR Part II considerations for texting, email, and videoconferencing; 4) Use of social networking sites and potential ethical pitfalls; 5) Employer/employee issues with technology (social media policies); and 6) Applying ethical decision-making models with ethical dilemmas. This online learning series will provide 15 hours of instruction, learning activities, and self-study as well as interactive discussions/activities, videos, feedback, and articles.