Online Therapy: The Next Wave.

by Kelly McCarthy.

Psychology Today, March 2001 v34 i2 p10

With the advent of modern technology, videoconferencing has become the rage in all types of office environments--even mental health practitioners are forging virtual patient-therapist relationships. And while those contemplating "telepsychiatry" may have reservations, new research suggests their concerns may be unwarranted. In a review of telepsychiatry's procedures and methodologies, published recently in the journal Psychiatric Services, researchers found that psychiatric interviews conducted by videoconferencing were not only reliable, but resulted in "high levels of satisfaction" among users.  Read more

The Virtual Couch.

Business Week

Sept 18, 2000 

For six years, Judy Griffith squirted hot glue on her skin, slashed herself with scalpels, and burned her body with screwdrivers that she had heated up on her stove. Wounding herself was the only way she had found to pull herself out of her deep depression. Sexually abused as a child, Griffith, 43, had seen a string of therapists, but they hadn't done much. One molested her, making it hard for her to trust the others. She was desperate for help. Finally, one hot summer afternoon two years ago, Griffith sought solace from her computer.  Read more

Cyber-psychotherapy

by Shannon D. Smith; Cynthia Reynolds.

Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association

March-April 2002 v5 i2 p20(3) COPYRIGHT 2002

Abstract

Cyber-therapy is a fast growing phenomenon in the field of psychotherapy, Internet sites are being established on a routine basis, most offering some form of therapy on a fee for service basis. Proponents of this method of delivering mental health services hold that the internet is a viable way to provide a range of psychotherapy services. Read more

Seeing a Virtual Shrink:

More therapists are hanging out shingles online.

But who are they? Who's logging on? And does it work?

by Claudia Kalb.

Newsweek, Jan 22, 2001 p54

When Rita Lowitt, a Berkeley marriage and family therapist, isn't meeting clients in her office, she's treating them from home. Some nights, she might comfort a nervous new mom. Others, a stressed-out CEO or a fortysomething with a disappointing sex life. Her clients share their most private feelings, but Lowitt can't see their tears or hear their sighs. She may not even know what time zone they're in. Confused? Lowitt is counseling people online. "We're all more pressed for time, trying to avoid despair," she says. Internet counseling is "immediate, it's focused, it cuts to the chase."  Read more