SPPM CHARTER

sci.psychology.psychotherapy.moderated
Practice of psychotherapy. (Moderated) 

CHARTER

Overview:
Sci.psychology.psychotherapy.moderated (hereinafter "sppm") 
exists as a forum for the discussion of psychotherapy. 
Anyone with an interest in such discussion is welcome. This 
would include practitioners of all types (psychologists, 
psychiatrists, marriage/family counselors, social workers, 
etc.), students of therapy, and therapy clientele. 

Appropriate and Inappropriate Posts: 
Some examples of topics appropriate for discussion in sppm 
include (but are not limited to) the following: 

· a particular type of psychotherapy (e.g., cognitive-
 behavioral, psychodynamic), or a comparison between two 
 types. There will be no restrictions on the types of 
 therapeutic modalities that are appropriate for discussion 
 -- save for treatments that seem to have no obvious 
 connection to psychology (e.g., palm-reading, crystals). 
 The latter will not be accepted, unless a clear, plausible 
 connection to psychology is made. 
· a particular psychological disorder (e.g., depression, 
 eating disorder) 
· a particular psychological theory (e.g., object relations 
 theory, learning theory), as it relates to the material of 
 therapy 
· research relevant to psychotherapy 
· psychopharmacological (drug) or other biological 
 treatments, as they relate to psychotherapy 
· diagnostic issues 
· therapist training and supervision 
· ethical issues faced by therapists 
· trends in practice (e.g., emerging or alternative 
 modalities) 
· the relationship between psychotherapy and other fields     
of inquiry such as philosophy or religion (as long as the 
 discussion remains focused on psychotherapy) 
· career issues (e.g., establishing a private practice, 
 coping with managed care) 
· business related directly to psychotherapy (e.g., 
 employment opportunities, equipment for sale) 
· case studies (if and only if client anonymity is ensured) 
· announcements and reports of meetings, conferences, and 
 newsletters, including those put out by self-help 
 organizations (please consider posting or cross-posting 
 these to sci.psychology.announce, however) 
· requests for information about a specific problem. 

 However, those looking for exchanges characteristic of a 
 support group should seek out an actual support group, as 
 sppm was not designed to serve that function. 

 The following are inappropriate for sppm, and posts 
 containing them will be rejected: 
· personal attacks, including allegations of professional 
 misconduct (the latter should be brought to the attention 
 of the appropriate authorities) 
· discussions which wander far from the topic of 
 psychotherapy (including spam) 
· cross-posting to groups outside of the psychology topic 
 area, unless the reason for crossposting is evident (e.g., 
 cross-posting to a sci.med group when drug therapy is 
 being discussed). Responses may be made to the same groups 
 or a subset thereof without further justification. 
· gross violations of netiquette. These may include, for 
 example, excessive repetition -- defined as more than 90% 
 quoted material, or posting more frequently than once per 
 month an article with more than 90% unchanged text 
 (moderators may change these value in the future, if they 
 find them to be unsatisfactory) -- or chronic 
 misattribution of quoted text. 

Relevant Addresses:

Submissions: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Articles posted to the 
newsgroup will be automatically routed to this address. 

Administrative/rejection appeals: 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
Ombudsman/complaints: 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 

Overview of Moderation:
Moderation will be designed to uphold the charter. It will 
be carried out by a panel of moderators, in concert with 
automated moderation software. 

Articles submitted to sppm will first be screened by the 
software, and then, if necessary, passed on to a randomly 
selected moderator. In order to facilitate rapid posting, 
reduce moderator workload, and minimize moderator 
intrusion, individuals who are able to meet charter 
guidelines in a reliable fashion will be placed on a "green 
list." This green list will be supplied to the software, 
which will automatically (without moderator review) post 
articles by individuals on the list. 

The software will take one of two actions: 1) post the 
article to sppm, or 2) pass the article to a moderator. 
Posts from authors on the green list will be automatically 
posted to sppm, without further review. Posts from authors 
not on the green list will be passed to a human moderator. 
The software will send an e-mail notification to each 
author (with a valid e-mail address) whose post is routed 
to a moderator. 

The Green List:
It should be noted that, when one is not on the green list, 
this does not mean one is prevented from posting to sppm; 
it merely means that one's submissions are reviewed by a 
moderator. 

New sppm posters will be added to the green list if they 
meet two criteria: 1) they have posted at least three 
acceptable articles to sppm, without a rejection, and 2) 
someone advances their name to the moderators for 
consideration (anyone may do this, including the 
moderators, the ombudsman, or the person him/herself, and 
the process may become automated in the future). 
This initial green-lighting will occur automatically for 
any poster who meets these criteria. 

If an individual on the green list posts an article which 
violates the charter, that person may be given a warning, 
provided that at least four of the five moderators agree 
that a violation has occurred. If, within a period of a 
month, that same individual again violates the charter, he 
or she may be removed from the green list, provided that at 
least four of the five moderators agree that the post in 
question is a violation. Any person may call to the 
moderators' attention an objectionable post. 

After being removed from the green list, a person is 
eligible for reinstatement to the green list after two 
months of uniformly acceptable posts. In addition, a 
minimum of three articles must have been submitted since 
the date of removal from the green list before one is 
eligible for reinstatement. Again, any person, including 
the individual in question, may submit the eligible 
person to the moderators for this consideration, and a 
simple majority vote will restore him/her to the list. 

Acceptance and Rejection of Posts:
When the software routes a post to a randomly selected 
moderator, that moderator will approve or reject that post. 
In no case will he or she edit any part of the post, 
including the newsgroup line. All rejected posts, including 
cross-posted ones, will be returned to their authors intact 
(assuming that author has a valid e-mail address). A brief 
explanation of the rejection will accompany the article. 
The author may then revise and resubmit the article, appeal 
the rejection, or submit the article to another forum 
(e.g., spp). 

If you wish to appeal the rejection of a post, please write 
to the administrative e-mail address. One may also contact 
any individual moderator or the ombudsman (see below for 
addresses). When an article is appealed, it is sent to all 
of the moderators. If at least one of the moderators 
believe that the article is acceptable, then the article 
shall be posted. Thus, unanimity will be required to 
sustain a rejection. This should ensure a loose moderation 
style where minority interests are protected. 

Ombudsman:
The ombudsman provides a means by which sppm readers can 
give feedback about the performance of moderators and oust 
one if necessary. The ombudsman's primary duty will be to 
receive complaints (or praise) about the moderators' 
performance and to communicate with the moderators about 
this. Comments and complaints about the moderators may be 
sent to the ombudsman at [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
On a monthly basis, the ombudsman will post to sppm a 
summary of feedback received. If you would like your 
feedback to remain confidential, please let the ombudsman 
know this; your request will be honored. 

Election of Moderators and Ombudsman:
The current moderators and ombudsman have been elected by 
readers of spp. One year after the inception of sppm, a 
second election of moderators and ombudsman will take 
place. Thereafter, these elections will occur every two 
years. 

Elections will proceed as follows. A voting committee will 
be created, composed of the ombudsman and two other 
individuals selected by the moderators. These individuals 
will not be among the moderators currently serving. This 
voting committee will oversee moderator and ombudsman 
elections, which will be held simultaneously. 

The election process will begin with a three-week voter 
registration period. Sppm readers who would like to vote in 
the upcoming election will be asked to send a simple e-
mail. During the same three-week period, sppm members will 
also be asked to send their nominations for moderator 
and/or ombudsman to the voting committee. 

After this registration/nomination period, the voting 
committee will promptly contact the nominees, and then post 
a list of those who accepted nomination. After this, two 
weeks will be set aside for moderator and ombudsman 
campaigning (at all other times, such posts will be 
considered off-topic). 

After these two weeks have passed, the voting committee 
will post moderator and ombudsman ballots, together with 
voting instructions. Only those who have registered will be 
eligible to vote. The voting period will last two weeks. 
Each voter will be allocated five votes to distribute among 
the candidates as he or she sees fit, with no fractional 
votes allowed. Votes will be sent by e-mail to an ad-hoc 
listserve (designed to ensure accurate counting by the 
committee). The committee will collect and count the votes, 
and then post final voting results. Registration, ballot, 
and nomination announcements will be repeated at 
approximately one-week intervals. All election-
related material should be posted only to sppm. 

Replacement/Removal of Moderators and Ombudsman:
The ombudsman or a moderator may occasionally wish to leave 
office before his/her term is up. He/she may also be 
removed by the procedures described below. If either of 
these circumstances occur, the vacant seat will be filled 
by a vote among the remaining moderators and ombudsman. 

If complaints against a moderator are substantial, it may 
become necessary to remove that moderator from office. Sppm 
members can institute a recall election of any moderator by 
gathering 10 valid e-mail addresses of authors who have 
contributed to sppm and who believe a recall election is 
justified. This "petition" should be sent to the ombudsman, 
who, after confirming the validity of the petition, will 
form a vote-counting committee, post a ballot, and then 
post the final results. If 75% or more of sppm voters agree 
that a moderator ought to be removed, he or she will be; 
the ombudsman will notify the owner of the post 
distribution program to remove that moderator. It is 
possible to unseat an ombudsman by a similar procedure, 
although in that case the petition should be directed to a 
moderator, who will assume the duties just described. If a 
moderator or ombudsman survives a recall election, no 
further recall petitions of that moderator or ombudsman 
will be entertained for six months. 

Disclaimer:
Please be cautious about accepting any advice you might 
receive on sppm. The quality of advice varies tremendously, 
and there is no way to verify either the credentials or the 
competence of anyone posting to this newsgroup. Those who 
self-treat based upon information posted in sppm do so at 
their own risk. Moderators are not responsible for any 
direct, consequential, or other damages resulting from 
information or misinformation posted to sppm. Moderators do 
not check articles for accuracy, nor do they guarantee or 
warrant the information provided on the newsgroup for any 
specific purpose or use. No warranties, expressed or 
implied, are made. 

MODERATORS/ADDRESSES
Moderator: Nancy Alvarado ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) 
Moderator: John Price ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) 
Moderator: Mark Morin ([EMAIL PROTECTED] ) 
Moderator: Kimberly Barnard ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) 
Ombudsman: Paul Bernhardt ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) 
Administrative contact address: 
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
Ombudsman/complaints: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
Article submission address: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 

View this charter on the web: 
http://www.psychcentral.com/sppm/

-- 
Kym


'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`''`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`
   sci.psychology.psychotherapy.moderated is a moderated newsgroup.
Before submitting an article, please read the guidelines which are posted 
here bimonthly or the charter on the Web at http://www.grohol.com/sppm/
            Submissions are acknowledged automatically.