Archive for the ‘internet addiction’ Category

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We are working hard on putting together our new OTI magazine, TILT (Therapeutic Innovations in Light of Technology).

The magazine will be online and free, and launched in September 2010. It will be a blend of news, innovations, member profiles, articles, features, marketing toolboxes, news on textbooks, and advertisements of interest. We will have more news on this very soon as the first issue comes together.

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Each issue will include the following:

· Editors introduction and contents (Kate Anthony & DeeAnna Merz Nagel)
· News from the cyberstreet (tweets members, what is at OTI blog, new research news)
· New Breakthroughs column
· Online Therapist column (A Day In The Life)
· Online Supervisor column
· Ethical Dilemmas column
· Feature article 4000-6000 words
· Other article(s) – about 1500 words
· Marketing toolbox column
· Featured Verified website
· Letters/reader comments
· Book descriptions of 3 books per issue
· Advertising and conferences

If you have an article of up to 1500 words that you are burning to get out of your system on any topic related to innovative delivery of therapeutic services via technology (including coaching), please do submit it no earlier than August 1st and no later than August 20th to editor@onlinetherapymagazine.com

We’re very excited at this new development at the Online Therapy Institute and will let you know even more about the content soon!

We look forward to reading your article!

If you have other inquiries about the magazine including advertising options please email info@onlinetherapyinstitute.com

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On Tuesday, May 11th I had the pleasure of attending the screening of Life 2.0, a documentary about Second Life, at ICF Theatre’s  Stranger Than Fiction. Director Jason Spingarn-Koff follows people for a period of over a year or more as they maneuver life lived in a mixed reality.

The scenarios include two people, each married to someone else,  involved in a cyberaffair, complete with hook-ups in Second Life to using webcam technology for face-to-face encounters. Their love affair takes them out of cyberspace for several in-person encounters. Emotions are high and limerence, that state of intense romantic desire for another person, is clearly evident. This is an affair of great proportions~ emotional, cerebral and physical~ filled with the excitement and consequences of infidelity.

An intimate look  into the lives of several people who are brave enough to share their stories continues. Another young adult who is engaged to be married logs into Second Life and soon he has created an alter~ an 11 year-old girl who he describes is a part of himself. This story line is rich and psychodynamic offering a glimpse into the impact of virtual worlds on the lives of people who have experienced childhood trauma. The vulnerabilities of the adult male, his alter child female, his “real life” fiance and other avatars the child befriends in Second Life are all laid out across the screen in a disturbing yet expected fashion.

A woman searching for meaning in her vocation  discovers that she can merge her love of gaming with her talent for design. She also explains that she has been dealing with several health issues so working from home is a plus for her. She starts a business creating a line of clothing and accessories as well as designer homes and landscapes. She manages to turn her hobby into a profitable enterprise. As with any entrepreneur, she applies focused concentration and long hours.

It is the stuff of life that therapists have been dealing with for years, or is it?

Enter the ability to create an alternate digital reality and these life struggles become magnified. Online disinhibition means that people do and say things in cyberspace they might not be able or willing to do or say in their “real life.”  Quotations are purposeful here because the underlying message is that these cyber experiences ARE real- as real as what I had for breakfast this morning.

So what does this documentary offer those of us in the helping professions? How about a new chapter in multiculturalism? Cyberculture is rich, full, real and impactful. Our clients don’t just go to soccer games, or movies or to Paris or Walt Disney. They don’t just have clandestine affairs at work or deal with historical issues of abuse in the therapist’s consultation room. They go to Second Life, another destination rendering the thrill of decadent and clandestine meetings, corporate enterprise, vocational fulfillment and the ability to create a new beginning, reconstruct a past event or extend parts of oneself into another reality.

If you have the opportunity to view Life 2.0, don’t miss it.  Your understanding of cyberspace will grow beyond measure.

Stay tuned for more about Life 2.0. We will regularly post notes of interest to our readers.

DeeAnna

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OTI has been remiss in offering regular blog posts these past couple of months but with good cause and great outcomes!

So what’s in store for 2010? Our authored book, Therapy Online: A Practical Guide was just released and we have another edited book, The Use of Technology in Mental Health: Applications, Ethics and Practice due out this summer. This book has 30 chapters with a total of 47 contributing authors from across the globe.

As promised, we are offering online training about online therapy. We have launched the first 6 workshops with more to come. Each workshop is the equivalent of 5 clock hours of instruction. The workshops are online and self-paced.  The cost per workshop is $119.00/70.00 £.

• Introduction to Cyberspace: A Primer for Helping Professionals
• Relationships in Cyberspace: An Introduction for Helping Professionals
• The Online Therapeutic Relationship: Theoretical Considerations
• Ethical Considerations of Online Therapy
• Working Therapeutically Using Asynchronous Email
• Working Therapeutically Using Synchronous Chat

The workshop details can be accessed at our training portal. We have partnered with DigitalChalk to bring you a user-friendly yet state-of-the-art experience. Continuing Education credits for U.S. psychologists, social workers and counselors will be available very soon.

www.onlinetherapyinstitute.digitalchalk.com.

Just create an account and peruse our catalog! Your account will remain active should you decide to return to take a course.

We are giving our website a facelift so resources are easier to navigate.

We will soon offer an Online Therapy Institute ~verified~ seal that will provide a way for online helping professionals to indicate to the public that their site meets standards of best practice.

We will be facilitating groups and workshops as well as co-sponsoring conferences online and at our Second Life location.

We are collaborating with others to add to our Ethical Framework resources.

We have created:

• Ethical Framework for the Use of Technology in Mental Health
• Ethical Framework for the Use of Technology for Career and School Guidance

Coming Soon:

• Ethical Framework for the Use of Technology in Professional Coaching
• Ethical Framework for the Use of Technology in Crisis, Disaster and Critical Incident Interventions
  

We are offering a directory listing to everyone who joins our social network at www.onlinetherapysocialnetwork.com and your listing will be posted at www.onlinetherapydirectory.net.

For OTI members who practice online, a website listing in the OTI Web Directory (online counseling category) will be added provided the following standards are met:

1. Offer encrypted services for email, chat and web conferencing.
2. List level of education, schools attended and dates graduated.
3. List certifications and licenses if applicable with verification web links.
4. List crisis information or a link on the website’s home page.
5. List therapist’s alternate contact information in addition to email.

Mostly, we will continue to encourage dialogue among our members and friends at Online Therapy Institute so that we can all learn and grow together!

Kate and DeeAnna

We have had several inquiries lately about membership at the Online Therapy Institute; particularly- what are the benefits of joining?

• Advertising
• Networking
• Media Opportunities
• Case Consultation

OTI offers several ways for people to collaborate, network and gain knowledge about mental health and technology.  We have free discussion groups through Linkedin, Facebook, Second Life and our own social network.  We blog and we tweet to keep everyone up-to-date on the latest happenings in the field.  Membership is not necessary through these groups and many are satisfied with the affiliation they currently have with us.  Becoming a member however, brings additional benefits. 

When a person, business, organization, educational institution or charity joins OTI we spread the word about their cause, services, products, or training. Beginning in 2009, all members who join receive a dedicated blog post which is fed to many blog directories and social networks such as Linkedin and Twitter.  We also create a listing in our Web Directory and the new listing is then fed to Twitter and other networks.  We create another way to advertise through social media and we promote our members by assisting with research projects, networking and offering media connections.  We promote member workshops and trainings related to mental health and technology through our blog and events calendar.

For qualified clinical members, we offer a secure and encrypted forum for peer supervision and one-off case consultation regarding online and face-to-face cases.  The forum is facilitated and feedback is offered by Kate Anthony and DeeAnna Merz Nagel.

If you interested in joining, access the membership form here. Come grow with us!! And please do not hesitate to ask any questions of us. 

Annual Membership Fees

$ 50.00 USD  INDIVIDUAL Clinical and Professional

$ 75.00 USD  ORGANISATIONAL Non-profit/Charity/Educational Institution/Association

$100.00 USD ORGANISATIONAL Business/Corporate

The Metaverse Journal interviewed DeeAnna and myself about our online therapy and our work inworld.  http://tinyurl.com/cj7t7k

We discuss various issues about using Second Life to host therapy sessions – our optimism about it as well as our concerns around security and encryption, and how we got into this field in the first place. We are so thrilled to have the opportunity to discuss this topic in such a well respected media venue.  The Metaverse Journal has long been one of our favorite picks!

Hope you enjoy it!

Kate

The Online Therapy Institute offers several venues to engage in vibrant discussion about bringing mental health and technology together. Online therapy, cyberpsychology, the use of the internet to enhance private practice, internet addiction and behavioral telehealth are but a few of the topics that pop up on our discussion boards.  We have groups and discussions located at LinksforShrinks, Facebook, Second Life, Linkedin and the Online Therapy Institute Social Network  Check out OTI on the Web!

For secure and encrypted communication with other Online Therapy Institute Clinical Members, consider joining and gain access to the OTI Member Forum. Clinical Members can staff cases and engage in peer supervision in a confidential environment.

See you online!

DeeAnna

While the debate rages on about whether or not internet addiction really exists or is an actual diagnosis, some people use the internet to the point that real world relationships become difficult to establish or maintain, tasks of daily living are effected and work is compromised.

More and more people are seeking psychotherapy and support for mental health issues online. Comfort with technology is closing the divide as access to quality services and navigation on the web becomes easier.

It might not be so unusual for someone who is struggling with an internet addiction to reach out for help on the internet. Determining whether or not this is a suitable approach should be on a case by case basis but let’s consider the following as a point for further thought:

A person who has a history of building unstable and untrustworthy virtual relationships may have the opportunity for a positive experience through therapeutic dialogue with a therapist via the internet.

This intervention may be as adjunct to an existing face-to-face relationship and the experience may be modulated as part of an overall plan. Or a person who may not consider face-to-face therapy may reach out on the internet when his or her life has become unmanageable. Interventions may be text-based via chat and/or email, videoconferencing/webcams or by using avatars in a virtual world such as Second Life.

What do you think?

DeeAnna

The Online Therapy Institute is official and the proof is in the number of recent new members! Kate and DeeAnna welcome all who have embraced OTI as another place to network, advertise and learn!  Remember to visit us in Second Life as well.  Soon we will integrate group forum discussions at our Second Life office on the Islands of Jokaydia.

We have other plans as well.  2009 will bring new publications, online courses and more opportunities to network.  Stay tuned!

Kate and DeeAnna

DeeAnna Merz Nagel, co-founder of Online Therapy Institute, has been practicing counseling and psychotherapy face-to-face and online for many years. She has seen how technology has changed lives. With technology infiltrating work and leisure (and sometimes causing those lines to blur), she has added the use of technology as a specialty in her face-to-face practice. She assists her clients online and face-to-face, in understanding the impact of technology on their lives and the lives of people they love.  Internet addiction, social networks such as MySpace and virtual worlds like Second Life are changing the way many people exist day to day- some folks are impacted positively while others are having a difficult time managing.

She practices in Rumson, NJ and shares office space with Breaking the Chain Counseling and Lora Sasiela, a clinical social worker based in New York City and Rumson. With an array of specialties between them, Breaking the Chain Counseling, Lora Sasiela and DeeAnna Merz Nagel have much to offer the community. BBC helps identify patterns of unhealthy behavior and they facilitate breaking the chain, learning health ways to help individuals, couples, families and children communicate and grow. Lora assists people dealing with anxiety, depression, women’s issues and binge eating. In addition to technology and internet addiction, DeeAnna also assists survivors of abuse and people struggling with relationship issues and substance abuse.

With the added convenience of online counseling, DeeAnna is able to offer her face-to-face clients more flexibility in scheduling appointments and more availability during travel. If you are interested in working with DeeAnna, call her todayat 1.877.773.5591 for a free initial consultation.

Online Therapy Institute is pleased to announce a new website feature: The Online Therapy Institute Book Store. We will keep our online storefront up-to-date with the latest books related to online counseling, internet addiction and the impact of technology on mental health. We will add new publications as they come out, making this an easy one-stop shop for your online mental health book search. Please bookmark the store and check back often!