| How
to Use Computers and Cyberspace
in the Clinical Practice of Psychotherapy
 Logging
On
The screen flickers into life,
the electronic glow reflecting in my eyes. It
is very late, the world around me long asleep.
For a moment I am alone in the silence, the only
voice speaking into the dark night. And then the
door opens. It is virtual. I'm logged on.
The sun streams in as I greet
a friend half way around the world. The pace quickens
as I join a communal debate. My heart pounds when
a flamer, entrenched deep in Australia, throws
barbs at my latest comments. I flee to a place
where I can be Medieval princess or dashing cyborg.
I change names and identities as quickly as screens,
re-creating myself in countless ways, playing,
experimenting, dancing with some of my most fragile
fantasies. And through it all I remain unscathed,
a time and space traveler sitting quietly in my
office.
What is virtuality? Does it
belong in my clinical office? One might flippantly
define reality as everything that isn't cyberspace.
Reality is generally defined by concrete parameters
- the length of a day, the speed of a car, the
nature of your work. Virtuality has none of those
constraints. In fact, the only physical aspect
to virtuality are the vehicles that take you into
cyberspace -- things such as the size of your
screen, the feel of your keyboard, the speed of
your modem. These parameters are notoriously fickle,
changing with the latest sale, the newest technology,
or what we can afford to pay at the moment we
choose to buy. So where does that leave the individual
- the self - when it ventures into a changeable,
abstract environment unaffected by time, distance,
or physical space?
Imagine a world where the written
word dominates. There are no flowers to smell,
no skin to touch, no sweets to taste. In this
world behavior is as intangible as thought, social
interaction removed from its physical context.
People live, work, love, and lie on screens and
the self is a multiple construct, changed at will,
designed to fit environments teaming with metaphors.
How do we act? What do we see? How do we change?
Today, thirty to fifty million
people around the world are living, working, playing,
and making love in cyberspace. Some predict that
there will soon be over two hundred million people
on The Internet. They communicate in an endless
variety of environments, from e-mail to virtual
cafes, playing fantasy games, debating on bulletin
boards, and flirting in chat rooms. Net.sex, flaming,
and gendermorphing are commonplace events. Virtual
communities with members spread around the world
thrive as if they were next-door neighbors, chatting
over backyard fences. How do human beings adapt
emotionally, psychologically, and socially to
function in these electronic environments?
Clearly, a new psychology is
emerging. Patterns of interaction are evolving
from concepts like netiquette and list protocols.
Aggressive, uninhibited behavior is increasing
from the anonymity and the absence of social constraints
in cyberspace. The self is being split in multiple
directions, adopting distinctive identities and
roles. Sex is being redefined as an experience
of shared fantasies and virtual caresses. The
simulation of reality online has become its own,
unique process. And anything can happen.
As we settle into the new millennium,
humankind is perhaps facing its most dramatic
adaptation. Patterns of interaction are being
redefined; group process is changing; communities
are restructuring. And it is only the beginning.
As technology develops, improving our ability
to connect in cyberspace, humans will continue
to adapt to life online. We are witnessing the
merging of two provocative and powerful forces,
psychology and technology.
I call it psychotechnology.
When I began How to Use Computers
and Cyberspace in the Clinical Practice of Psychotherapy
I quickly became aware of the paucity of hard
research, theory, and discussion on the subject.
It seemed that only a few people on- or off-line
were struggling to make sense of this rapid, dramatic
shift in human behavior. I realized that psychotechnology
was an event that was happening, rather than being
designed. Like any human psychology, it was developing
systems through the millions of people, young
and old, who regularly entered the technological
magic of cyberspace. The book came from cyberspace,
from psychotherapists eager to share their experiences
and their thoughts, from the virtual communities
always willing to accept a new member, from the
often overwhelming overload of information, good
and bad, residing on the Net. Sometimes these
"voices" were loud and eager, anxious to share
their clinical forays into the electronic environment.
Other times it seemed as if I was wandering in
vast uncharted territories struggling organize
an ideological shapeshifter into a coherent set
of ideas. Ultimately, I had to compromise. Cyberspace
is an infant technology, its inhabitants similar
to the indomitable explorers of human history
who circumnavigated their world in Viking boats,
clipper ships, covered wagons, and space shuttles.
As such, you and I are also pioneers, exploring
a strange new universe with boundaries yet to
be discovered. It is a trip that identifies the
very new with the tools of the very old, forecasting
an unpredictable future where change is the only
constant.
In this book you will venture
into a new clinical office where psychotherapists
and their patients are implementing innovative
treatments based on classic theories of practice.
Psychotechnology links the old and the new, using
the traditional as well as cutting edge voices
of theorists from Sigmund Freud to Sherry Turkle,
acknowledging the social workers, psychologists,
psychiatrists, and psychiatric nurses applying
their skills in virtuality.
Take a deep breath. And let's
surf.
Table of Contents
Part I: The Online Couch
- Will the Real Illusion Please
Rise?
- Climbing On Board the Couch:
Specific Phobias and Virtual Reality Intervention
- Cyberspeak!: Psychotherapy
and Computer-Mediated Communication
- Shooting the Electronic Breeze:
Using Virtual Communities to Treat Social Disorders
- To Be or Not To Be: Exploring
the Self in a Personal Web Page
- Digital Digging: Group Therapy
Online
- Virtual Facilitation: Electronic
Information and Referral, Online Support and
Self-Help
- Reach Out and Touch Someone:
Cybertherapy
- Voices in the Circuitry:
Professional Connectivity in the Electronic
Environment
- Propriety on the Online Couch:
A Discussion of Ethical Guidelines for Virtual
Therapy
- Dr. Rob's Story: A Day in
the Life of a Virtual Clinician
Part II: Questions and Answers
for Emerging Treatments in Psychotechnology
- What is Psychotechnology?
- Is Psychotechnology Actual
or Virtual Reality?
- Where is the Noosphere?
- Is "I" Lost in Cyberspace?
- Where Exactly is Cyberspace?
- Are All Netizens Created
Equal?
- How Do People Interact in
an Electronic Environment?
- Why Do People Love to Hang
Out in Cyberspace?
- What is a Disembodied Gender?
- Is There Love in Cyberspace?
- What Do People Do When They
Have Net.Sex?
- Can People Be Addicted to
Computers?
- Is There a Difference between
ADD and Life in Cyberspace?
- What is Inappropriate Behavior
in the Electronic Environment?
- Who Commits Sex Crimes in
Cyberspace?
- Is Something Missing?: Three
Essays
- What is Virtual Healthcare
and How Does It Work in a Managed Care World?
- Is Mental Health the Next
Telehealth Target?
- What Happens to Confidentiality?
- What Can We Do?: A Call to
Action
Part III: Internet Resources
for Clinicians
List of Internet Addresses
Glossaries
Suggested Offline Reading List
Want to have your own copy
of this exciting,
groundbreaking book? Click
here.
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