Supervision and Ethics in the Electronic Age
Program Description
The emergence of new technologies has revolutionized the delivery of social work services.
Electronic records, social networking, and services delivered online, by texts and virtual media
have expanded social work capacities beyond traditional temporal and geographic boundaries.
These same changes have the capacity to change the way supervision and consultation are
conducted. Whatever role social workers play, these electronic innovations carry significant
ethical implications – for confidentiality, competence, informed consent and other issues.
This session will examine the ethical promises and pitfalls of these electronic advances,
addressing contemporary issues, prospective developments, and the knowledge and skills
supervisors need to adapt to the changing landscape.
Program Objectives
Upon completion of this program participants should be able to:
1. Describe the features, controls, uses, and misuses of common electronic innovations,
including “e-therapies”, electronic innovations, search engines, and online networking;
2. Outline implications for supervision of current and anticipated advances in electronic
processes:
3. Explain the features of the ethical standards and the Model Regulatory Standards for
Technology and Social Work Practice, and applications to supervision;
4. List strategies for addressing ethical considerations (such as confidentiality, competence,
informed consent, and professional integrity) in light of electronic advances:
5. Illustrative case examples.
Program Agenda
Available upon request
Target audience
Clinicians, case managers, social workers, counselors, psychiatrists, psychologists, educators,
advocates, health and human service practitioners.
Contact Hours
3.0 – 6.0 contact hours
Faculty
Kim Strom-Gottfried, Ph.D., received her BSW from the University of Maine, her MSW from
Adelphi University, and her Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. She is
the Smith P. Theimann Jr. Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Professional Practice at the
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where she teaches in the areas of direct practice,
education, and human resource management. Kim's practice focus is in suicide prevention,
intervention, and bereavement. Her scholarly interests are in the areas of ethics, education and
social work practice. She has written over 60 articles, monographs and chapters on the ethics of
practice. She is the author of Straight Talk about Professional Ethics and The Ethics of Practice
with Minors: High Stakes and Hard Choices and the forthcoming text Cultivating Courage. Dr.
Strom-Gottfried is also the co-author of the texts Best of Boards, Direct Social Work Practice
and Teaching Social Work Values and Ethics: A Curriculum Resource. Kim is formerly
Associate Dean at UNC and served for 18 months as the School’s Interim Dean. She is the
former chair of the National Association of Social Workers’ National Committee on Inquiry and
is active in training, consultation and research on ethical practice and ethical action. In 2015 she
was the recipient of an Excellence in Ethics award by the National Association of Social
Workers for definitive research on ethics violations.