Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- 1 Reflections on the Psychology and Social Science of Cyberspace
- 2 Privacy, Trust, and Disclosure Online
- 3 Internet Abuse: Emerging Trends and Lingering Questions
- 4 Flow Experience in Cyberspace: Current Studies and Perspectives
- 5 Cybertherapeutic Theory and Techniques
- 6 Exposure in Cyberspace as Means of Enhancing Psychological Assessment
- 7 Down the Rabbit Hole: The Role of Place in the Initiation and Development of Online Relationships
- 8 The Sexy Side of the Internet: An Examination of Sexual Activities and Materials in Cyberspace
- 9 The Contact Hypothesis Reconsidered: Interacting via Internet: Theoretical and Practical Aspects
- 10 Influences on the Nature and Functioning of Online Groups
- 11 Online Motivational Factors: Incentives for Participation and Contribution in Wikipedia
- 12 How Internet-Mediated Research Changes Science
- Index
- References
5 - Cybertherapeutic Theory and Techniques
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- 1 Reflections on the Psychology and Social Science of Cyberspace
- 2 Privacy, Trust, and Disclosure Online
- 3 Internet Abuse: Emerging Trends and Lingering Questions
- 4 Flow Experience in Cyberspace: Current Studies and Perspectives
- 5 Cybertherapeutic Theory and Techniques
- 6 Exposure in Cyberspace as Means of Enhancing Psychological Assessment
- 7 Down the Rabbit Hole: The Role of Place in the Initiation and Development of Online Relationships
- 8 The Sexy Side of the Internet: An Examination of Sexual Activities and Materials in Cyberspace
- 9 The Contact Hypothesis Reconsidered: Interacting via Internet: Theoretical and Practical Aspects
- 10 Influences on the Nature and Functioning of Online Groups
- 11 Online Motivational Factors: Incentives for Participation and Contribution in Wikipedia
- 12 How Internet-Mediated Research Changes Science
- Index
- References
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 CyberspaceTheory, Research, Applications, pp. 102 - 128Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008
References
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