CYBER COUNSELLING COMPETENCIES: Implications for Curriculum Development and Training of Social Work Practitioners

In 2010, at the global campaign level in Hong Kong, the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) and the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) initiated a global agenda to promote social equalities, mental health, and other key issues. In Ghana, some social workers provide basic in-person counselling services in their community of work and make referrals to counselling psychologists when applicable. Unfortunately, the social distancing protocols of COVID-19 restricted the in-person sessions. In view of this, many practitioners transitioned to cyber counselling. Unfortunately, there is little or no empirical data on practitioners’ competencies in cyber counselling. This chapter reviews findings of our study, which investigated participants’ competencies in cyber counselling as the basis to develop a curriculum for training. The findings reveal high (94%) personal use of technologies but very low (27.6%) use of its application in cyber counselling. Building on the findings, this chapter provides a curriculum framework for social work practitioners to acquire competent skills for cyber counselling. We also review an ongoing collaboration between the authors in Ghana and Canada that seeks to introduce technological and professional competencies in cyber counselling to social work students and organise continuous professional development programmes for all social workers.