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5 - Cybertherapeutic Theory and Techniques

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
John Suler
Edited by
Azy Barak
John Suler
Affiliation:
Rider University
Azy Barak
Affiliation:
University of Haifa, Israel
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Summary

A new and rather surprising door in the history of the mental health field has opened. Professionals have begun to explore methods for using online environments to help people. How do these methods compare to in-person interventions? Although face-to-face approaches may be advantageous in many cases, there are some advantages to computer-mediated and online interventions. One obvious and frequently cited benefit that applies to all forms of online work is the opportunity to reach people who are unable to visit the professional for geographical, physical, or lifestyle reasons. Computer-mediated work also may be an important initial step in the establishment of what could become an ongoing, in-person treatment. Other advantages, as I'll discuss later, are specific to particular types of online interventions.

In writing this chapter, I decided not to organize it around the concept of psychotherapy. After all, what do we mean by that term? If we assembled a group of psychotherapists to discuss this question, we would be lucky if they came to any agreement other than a very general definition about psychotherapy as a service in which a professional helps a person with a problem. That controversy exists even before we toss cyberspace into the debate. Whether we call it psychotherapy or not, there have been many approaches over the past 100 years for applying psychological principles to the delivery of mental health services. Now cyberspace offers even more possibilities – many never dreamed of in the past.

Type
Chapter
Information
Psychological Aspects of Cyberspace
Theory, Research, Applications
 , pp. 102 - 128
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2008

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