CYBERSPACE TRAVELS FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCHERS, EDUCATORS, & PRACTITIONERS

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I. Overview: What is Mental Health Online? And Psychology?

   Harnessing the Internet

• Information and Education
  
• Self-Help
  
• Support and Advice
  
• Treatment (professional and lay)
  
• Internet Use as therapy, as a flight to health, or as an escape
  
• Research into Efficacy, Satisfaction, and Human Experience

Selected Sites for Discussion

Current Topics in Psychology - General reference: office, school and clinic practice

BBC Live Chat - with the Naked Chef and virtually any other popular subject

Dr. Bob's Psycho-Babble - Support and "information", from psychopharm to suicide

Google Zeitgeist - A good overview of who is using the web and what the world is looking for

KaliMunro.com - Combining f2f with online community

SchoolNotes.com - Facilitating student-teacher communication

YahooGroups - List-servs made easy

 

II. Education, Practice, and Ethics

• Professional Training and Continuing Education
• University courses online, study groups, "distance learning"
• Public Information about psychology (and from and about psychologists)
• Research - including areas of communication and cognitive processing
• Promoting "Best Practice" - Online and Off
• Understanding the Impact of the Internet in Daily Life
• Efficacy, Effectiveness, and Ethical Issues (e.g., informed consent)
• New niches, new demands for psychologists (Virus phobia? E-therapy?)

Selected Sites for Discussion

American Psychological Association

Behavior Online Forums

Pathological vs. Healthy Internet Use

Center for Online Addiction (Young)

Credentialled Advice from Yahoo! -- 99 cents/minute

ISMHO's Suggested Principles

ISMHO Case Study Group Report: Suitability for Online Treatment

Technical Difficulties with Online Psychotherapy

 

III. The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

• Familiar Practices, Familiar Sights - (Traditional marketing goes online.)
• Futuristic Visions, Questionable Sites - (Is this for real? New business models.)
• Claims, Credentials, and Internet Police - (Licensing issues, jurisdiction, etc.)
• Real niches for real psychologists - Isn't every day life (online or off) complex?

Selected Sites for Discussion
(The purpose here is to provide an overview. You decide on the proper label!)

Drs.Gurr - Traditonal tx, online advertising

Internet Therapist - Last year came with Couch (Now you can buy one!)

UnlicensedTherapist.com - Here's a couch, and a whole lot more to look at and discuss.

Help Horizons - Is this the future?

Here2Listen.com - Is this now the past?

Queendom.com - Self-serv psych testing - (#1 MH Site)

Therapy Online - More effective?

Metanoia - Consumer-oriented resource

MyTHERAPYnet.com - 1 Million Online Clients by 2001?

Web Police - Think it's a joke?

 

IV. The Future

• Technology, Society, and the Workplace
• Trickle-up from our children and teens
• Cognitive/social research (e.g, on Multi-tasking)
• Opportunities and obligations for professionals
• Expanding roles of professional organizations
• New directions in graduate education & continuing ed
• 2001: A Cyberspace Odyssey
• 2002: Are we there yet?

Selected Sites

Ananova [Hx]

Avatar Psychotherapy?

CSG4 Report: Myths & Realities

TheStandard.com

Student Research