Topic 2:
Be Responsible for Your Privacy

Private Notification

You may find yourself asking: "How can I know when I receive a new message from my counsellor? Do I have to login to PrivacEmail every day?"

No, you don't. PrivacEmail can automatically send a message to your regular e-mail address whenever you receive mail in your PrivacEmail account.

"This is an automatic notice indicating that you have received mail at your PrivacEmail address. To check your PrivacEmail, please go to... https://login.PrivacEmail.com"

The notice can be sent to any non-PrivacEmail.com address.

To set this up, login to login.PrivacEmail.com, then click "Check My Email"and Continue until you are in your Email. Then click the Preferences tab. Then scroll down the Preferences settings until you see the "Email Notification" section and follow the instructions. It is important to protect your confidentiality even in notification messages. So do NOT check the box that says:

"Check this box to display the address of the sender in the notification. (This could reveal the identity of the sender):"

Be sure to click the Save icon to save your Preferences.

I invite you to explore the other Preferences options as well. For example, if you have a slow modem connection, you may want to select the "Use fewer images" checkbox to speed up the PrivacEmail system.

A Private Place or Time

I hope you can either make sure your computer is in a private place, or that you can find private time for reading and writing your TherapEmail. Otherwise, someone may be able to look over your shoulder and read your private messages. Security on the Internet is useless if people can look over your shoulder.

Web Browser Privacy

Forgive me if you know these facts already:

Your web browser automatically records Web pages, graphics, and other files you've visited. These records are called the cache and history. Left alone, these records provide a roadmap of your surfing activities to the next person (your boss, your child, your spouse) who uses the computer and knows where to look. Please take these steps to protect your privacy after each visit to our virtual counselling centre:

To delete records of your Web browsing activity:

If you are using any version of Netscape Communicator^®:

1. From your browser menu select: Edit
2. From the Edit drop-down menu select: Preferences
3. Under the "Category" list (on left side of the Preferences window), open the sub-menu for "Advanced" by clicking on the + symbol
4. From the Advanced sub-menu, click on the word: Cache
5. From the Cache window select: Clear Memory Cache & Clear Disk Cache; then select the OK button at the bottom of the Cache window.
6. To clear the History list, select the Navigator branch, and then click the Clear History and Clear Location Bar buttons.

If you are using any version of Microsoft Internet Explorer:

1. From your browser menu select: Tools
2. From the Tools drop-down menu select: Internet Options
3. From the Internet Options window select: General
4. From the General folder, look for the Temporary Internet Files section near the middle of the window, click on the Delete Files button; a new window appears with the question "Delete all files in Temporary Internet Files Folder?", click on OK.
5. You should also delete your "History" folder, which records the names of sites you have recently visited. From the General folder, look for the History section near the bottom of the window, click on the Clear History button; a new window appears with the question "Are you sure you want Windows to delete your history of visited web sites?", click Yes. Then select the OK button at the bottom of the Internet Options window.

As an added security measure in any version of Microsoft Internet Explorer, you may decide to set your browser defaults as follows:

1. From your browser menu select: Tools
2. From the Tools drop-down menu select: Internet Options
3. From the Internet Options window select: Advanced
4. From the Advanced scroll-down window, look for the Security section title. From this section, you may decide you prefer to select the following option:
    
   • Delete saved pages when browser closed

   Then click on OK at bottom of window.

For users of other browsers, please refer to your browser's documentation on memory/disk caching.

Tutorial 3:
How to Handle Problems That Could Occur

Normal Delays

You can expect to receive a personal reply to your first message within three business days. To pick up your messages, login to login.PrivacEmail.com. Please contact us if you don't get a reply within that time-frame.

After your initial contact with your counsellor, he or she will schedule replies to you approximately once per week. You may, of course, send as many TherapEmails to your counsellor as you wish any time at all. Your counsellor will normally reply once per week as scheduled. If you mark a message "URGENT" in the subject line, your counsellor will make every effort to reply as soon as possible.

When I send a client a TherapEmail, I'm eager to hear from my client. I'm sure you'll have similar feelings when you send a TherapEmail to your counsellor. This waiting period will make your counsellor's reply that much more important to you when you get it.

On the other hand, waiting could be difficult at times. I want to speak right from my heart now: I really encourage you, right now, to pause and think about at least one other person that you can talk to about your counselling issues if you find waiting difficult. This person could be a trusted friend or family member. Make a commitment to yourself to contact that person if you need to.

Unexpected Delays

If you have waited more than three business days to receive your counsellor's first TherapEmail, or if you have not received your counsellor's reply on schedule, you can assume that something is wrong with the computer equipment somewhere. I don't want computers to get in the way! We're trying to use them to help you! So, if they get in the way, just phone your counsellor or this agency.

Don't Lose Your Work!

Every computer crashes once in a while. If it happens while you are in the process of writing a message using PrivacEmail, this can be extremely frustrating. There are two ways you can reduce the chances of losing your work:

1. The PrivacEmail system allows you to save your work-in-progress.

You can do this frequently by pressing the "Save draft" button. As you do this, your message disappears and gets moved to the "drafts" folder. So, in order to continue writing, you need to click the "Drafts" folder, click your draft message, and click Edit.

This is the most secure method.

2. You can use Notepad (a simple word processor supplied with Windows) alongside PrivacEmail. For maximum security, we recommend Notepad rather than a word processor because Notepad does not autosave, so there is no record on your hard-drive.

1. In PrivacEmail, select your counsellor's message and click Reply.
2. Click your mouse anywhere in the text of the message and use Ctrl+A to select the whole message.
3. Then use Ctrl+C to copy the selection.
4. Open Notepad (click Start, Accessories, Notepad from Windows)
5. Use Ctrl+V to insert into Notepad
6. Click Edit, Word Wrap (on).
7. Insert an external memory device and frequently save your work in progress.
8. When you're done, select and copy your work from Notepad.
9. Go back to PrivacEmail to the Compose window (that popped up when you used Reply), and use Ctrl+A to select the whole message.
10. Now use Ctrl+V to paste your work into PrivacEmail.

Make sure you format your external drive. (Use the help system that comes with Microsoft Windows if you need to learn how to format a drive.)

If you have any other technical problems related to PrivacEmail, please return to the resources menu and look for the document that addresses your question.

Misunderstandings

It is possible that you may feel that your counsellor does not fully understand what you have tried to convey in your TherapEmail.

Feel free to call your counsellor at the number he or she gives you to clarify.

Likewise, if your counsellor has a hunch that you are misunderstanding him/her, he/she may discretely telephone you.

Strong Emotional Reactions

Sometimes people who are in face-to-face counselling feel things more deeply than they expect. Your emotions might surprise you, or (rarely) become overwhelming while you are writing or reading your TherapEmail.

I urge you to develop a plan to handle this in case it happens. I have a few suggestions that you may find helpful. Most of all, I invite you to be aware that you are in control. Let me explain what I mean:

1. Choose a good time to read your counsellor's messages, not necessarily as soon as you get them.
    
   • Before you begin reading, check your own emotional state. Are you ready to experience yourself, your emotions, and your issues in an intensive way?
   • Next, check your circumstances. Do you have privacy? Do you have enough time to read and think about what your counsellor says? Do you plan to respond immediately, or read your counsellor's message a few times before responding?

2. Continue to pay attention to how you are feeling, and read or write as much as you want or can handle.
    
   • As soon as you see that you have received a message in your PrivacEmail account from your counsellor, it is a good idea to press "Reply" before you begin reading. This way, you can write to your counsellor about your feelings and reactions as they are happening to you.
   • Go at the pace that you can handle. Take a break if you want to. You can stop reading if it becomes difficult, so that you can take care of whatever you are experiencing.
   • Don't assume that you have to read or reply to the entire TherapEmail message your counsellor has given you. You can do it in several sittings.
   • Talk to someone about any strong emotions you experience or just give yourself time to prepare yourself before going back to it.

3. Recognize that you need to make your own decisions about what is and is not useful. Don't assume that your counsellor is necessarily right. Your counsellor will make judgements about your needs and the best way to address them. It's helpful if you tell your counsellor if you don't accept something he or she has said.
    
4. Plan in advance what you will do if you need emotional support when you read or write TherapEmail.
    
   • I suggest that you look up the telephone number for the Crisis Line closest to you, and decide ahead of time that you will call them for emotional support if you need it. Crisis Lines are normally listed on the inside of the front cover of your telephone book.

Please let your counsellor know if you have strong emotional reactions. Please describe fully what happened.

If you find that TherapEmail seems to be inappropriate for you, please tell your counsellor how you feel. Your counsellor can then help you decide whether face-to-face counselling may be more appropriate.

Crises

Emergencies, such as someone considering suicide or homicide, need immediate attention. I want to make sure you realize that, if any kind of emergency is happening where you are located, we cannot help you online. It just doesn't make sense to send your counsellor a PrivacEmail message, hoping that we will be able to help you at that moment. This agency's counsellors are expected to check for incoming PrivacEmail messages only once per day (Monday through Friday, excluding local statutory holidays). I, and our other counsellors, can definitely help you with what happens after an emergency. But we cannot help you online while the emergency is happening.

Because of this, we have prepared a web page especially to help people know how to get help in a crisis. Please click here and take the time to view this page.

Congratulations! You have completed the tutorials!