InCrisis Review

By:  Azy Barak, PhD
Professor of Psychology
University of Haifa

Dr. Barak is a foremost expert on ethical and professional standards for the development and operation of psychological services on the Internet. Dr. Barak is a contributing author to "On-Line Counseling: A Handbook for Mental Health Professionals" published in 2004 (Elserver, Academic Press).

Emerging technologies have made an impact on numerous aspects of life. Besides the problems that have been created and enabled by the penetration of technology into everybody's life, there are many prospects for exploiting technology to better the quality of life, well-being, problem-solving, education, and other desirable goals. The service provided by InCrisis is clearly among those online initiatives that may contribute directly to individual and society alike. The aim of InCrisis is to detect and identify problems and difficulties experienced by young people and to suggest ideas for coping. If professionally adapted and followed, these ideas might prevent the growth of complications and actually help in positively shaping the healthier development of distressed youngsters.

I have closely followed the establishment and development of InCrisis almost since its onset and have taken part in numerous decisions pertaining to its structure, procedures, and applications. What has struck me most has been the limitless investment that the site owners have put into making InCrisis a better service through following and maintaining strict, thorough professional guidelines, including meticulous attention to a combination of scientific, ethical, legal, and technological issues and standards. The approach taken by InCrisis is consistent with the most recent knowledge and contemporary understanding of the use of online assessment and the provision of personal consultation services over the Internet. Crucial issues, such as clear information, informed consent, privacy and confidentiality, usability and friendly navigation, have all been dealt with at the highest standards possible to enable an optimal service through the Net.

It is my conviction that the personal reports provided by InCrisis optimally meets professional expectations in regard to behavioral assessment, ethics, and safety, and thus may efficiently lead to constructive evaluations of individual situations and to relevant consequent decisions. I regard the service provided by InCrisis to be among the best online consultation services published on the Net to date. In addition, the dedicated, highly trained, and professionally supervised staff that operates InCrisis adds a special dimension to the technological innovations as such. In combination, they result in a product that is unique and of very special value.

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