Issues related to the online experience and therapeutic relationships have been a central focus of the Case Study Group (CSG) of the International Society for Mental Health Online. What do most people believe about the possibility of engaging in on-line therapy? One of the Case Study Group's interesting papers disusses what they consider to be some of the more common myths about about on-line therapy.
According to the CSG study, even among mental health professionals who may be otherwise very like-minded about concepts and principles which guide traditional counseling/psychotherapy approaches, there are some specific areas of concern which continue to be hotly debated with regard to Internet-facilitated mental health services. Clearly there does need to be thoughtful consideration about professional, ethical practice, with particular concern about risk management for particular types of client situations.
Our direct experience among a group of diversely trained mental health professionals, all with experience offline as well as online, suggests that there is even more potential than we had imagined for creative and therapeutic uses of Internet-facilitated communication. Moreover, the entire group acknowledges that what we have observed through the case presentations, and shared through a peer-supervision model, has convincingly demonstrated that some things we may not have thought possible clearly are.
At the same time, we have become still more acutely aware of the realities which are well-known in translating face-to-face therapies into digital versions, and the complexities involved in employing sound therapeutic and ethical judgment when situations arise "between sessions" online. Readers may access the entire article here: Myths and Realities of Online Clinical Work.
Technorati: psychology, psychotherapy therapy, on-line therapy, clinical psychology, internet, mental health, online mental health, mental health services, Chicago
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