Global Courant
This article is part one of a five-part series exploring interesting, unique, and noteworthy trends in mental health care. Understanding current trends and changes within a specific industry is one of the hallmarks of smart business. This process empowers professionals to make more effective and rewarding business decisions now and in the future. Exploring these changes also brings opportunities if we are able to look at new service offerings and competitive influences in unique and creative ways.
Online psychotherapy
Online counseling and psychotherapy is slowly becoming a viable option for people in need of psychological help and guidance. This model has its fair share of critics and there are valid concerns regarding the therapeutic process. However, technology is rapidly catching up with this model as high-speed wireless Internet access becomes commonplace, along with video/audio streaming and webcam capabilities. In many cases, a session between a therapist and a patient in two different locations can be bridged very well with the right technology specifications.
In academia, we are seeing an increasing interest along with research in the field of online psychotherapy. An interesting source worth checking out comes from a psychologist named John Suler, Ph.D. of the Riding University. In his article about “The Future of Online Psychotherapy and Clinical Work” published in the Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies in 2001, he predicts that eventually there will be online psychotherapy specialists for each of the different types of online clinical models and formats.
His discussion also provides a good model for understanding the progress of online counseling to date. Dr. Suler begins with a discussion of online psychotherapy using email as the primary mode of interaction. He eventually takes us to the next stage in the development of online psychotherapy, which uses a more synchronous model (A kind of two-way communication with virtually no time delay, allowing participants to respond in real time) such as chat therapy where there is real-time text-based interaction between client and therapist. Finally, he talks about current online therapy using a synchronous video-based format where the client and therapist talk to each other and see each other in real time over the internet.
More and more practitioners are taking this mode of service seriously, despite some of the existing limitations. Looking at this phenomenon from an opportunity standpoint, we see that there will be a demand beyond regional boundaries for those clinicians who effectively market themselves and build a degree of credibility in the field. It is not difficult to imagine a scenario of a person suffering from a specific and/or unique psychological problem. This person chooses to research the perceived problem/symptoms on the internet and finds an expert in that topic he/she chooses to seek help from, regardless of that professional’s location. A practitioner who has effectively marketed himself and used today’s technology to provide something of value to others beyond traditional face-to-face psychotherapy will have a competitive advantage in that market.
Dr. Suler further piques reader interest with a discussion of the Internet’s ability to create images and multimedia environments that can be used in clinical interventions. Virtual realities are already being used in exposure therapy and relaxation procedures. He wonders if there might also be a place for Virtual Reality in trauma work, behavior modeling and role playing to name a few. If you would like more information on this topic, I suggest you take a look at Dr. Suler, The Psychology of Cyberspace, op http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/psycyber.html
My reason for discussing online psychotherapy and other mental health trends is to provide practicing clinicians with information that will provide them with unique views, concepts, and ideas about the clinical process. This information should give you some insight into what lies ahead as both a challenge and an opportunity in the future. One such opportunity is online psychotherapy in its many variations and specialties.
Copyright 2008 – David Diana. All rights reserved worldwide.
References: Suler, J. (2004). The future of online psychotherapy and clinical work. In The psychology of cyberspace, (article orig. pub. 2001)
Online psychotherapy in mental health care
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