Andrew Fitzpatrick
BA, BSW, MA (Psychoanalytic Studies), AMAASW
Counsellor, Student Services
Victoria University of Technology
Melbourne, Australia
Andrew.Fitzpatrick@vu.edu.au
Posted: February 10, 2003 Student Affairs Online, vol. 4 no. 1 - Winter 2003
Have you ever met someone in a chat room? Destroyed a relationship with a hastily
written email? Looked for the answer to
life - on the Internet? Many of your
student clients have done these things – and even more that you might never
have thought of – and the impact of the online part of their lives is trying to
find its way into your consciousness.
'Technology' has become just part of relating – without a second thought
– anxiety, rejection, love and catastrophes all happen in cyberspace too.
Student Affairs personnel today, like the students at their respective institutions, rely heavily on e-mail and the Internet in their work, study and
personal lives, coming into contact with and attempting to master seemingly
ever new forms of computer technology.
I would like to devote some space in this e-journal to a consideration
of the question ‘why should counsellors learn about the Internet and computer
technology?’ The aim is to raise issues
of interest to counsellors and to shift attention to the importance of
considering psycho-social aspects, an area that can easily be overlooked or
remain unexplored, in the race to keep up with technological developments. The references and resources cited will no
doubt be of interest to Student Affairs personnel in general who can profit
from the body of literature called cyber-psychology and cyber-sociology.
Gonchar and Adams (2000) have written that:
Computer technology, once regarded as the
domain of technical wizards, is now recognised as a significant factor in all
environments. Subsequently, personal
relationships are impacted by computer technology, making it necessary for
social work educators and practitioners to stay versed in the influences of
computer technology on human development. (p. 587)
I
will refer to Gonchar and Adams’ work again below when discussing assessment
issues, but their point is relevant to a broad range of practitioners in the
helping professions. Morris (2002), an Australian clinical psychologist,
also states that, ‘It is important for therapists to become informed about the
Internet as it is likely that more and more people will present with problems
associated with its misuse’ (p. 47).
Morris cites relationship issues associated with the Internet as the
most ‘common presenting Internet problem’ for those that seek counselling.
It should be noted that the question I am addressing
has partially been explored previously in this e-journal in an article on
‘Internet addiction’. Young
(2001) wrote:
If you're a
counselor, learn all you can about the Internet and what students do there.
Talk to students about their online activities, ask them questions about what
they get out of it, go online yourself to see what chat rooms and interactive
online games look like in action.
During intake interviews with students reporting depression or anxiety,
make sure you inquire about their Internet habits.
I think this is good advice but it was embedded in an article on problematic Internet use, and therefore did not expand upon other more positive aspects of discussing the Internet in face-to-face counselling sessions. It can be helpful to keep in mind Civin’s (2000) basic premise that cyber relationships and the Internet in general can be either facilitative, debilitative or in some cases neutral.
Turkle (cited in Hanlon, 2001), a
fervent critic of ‘Internet addiction’, describes those who ‘make the most of
life on the screen’ in terms of approaching it, ‘…in a spirit of
self-reflection, seeking to learn about their desires and connections. Online people have an opportunity to rework
old conflicts, seek new solutions, and play with unexplored or unexpressed
aspects of the self’ (p. 568). Online
life can involve either acting out or the possibility of working through
issues. Of importance here is the idea
of cyberspace as potential or transitional space in the psychoanalytic sense,
of an online life that may be therapeutic or self-reparative (see Civin 1999 & 2000, Turkle
1995). Gonchar
and Adams (2000) note that, ‘… gains achieved in the virtual world can lead
to improvements in the physical world’ (p. 590). I believe that counsellors working with students
face-to-face can help to facilitate the kind of self-reflection about life
online that Turkle suggests.
Five considerations/reasons for counsellors
to learn about the Internet and computer technology are
presented below.
1.
Assessment issues. What role
does the Internet play in a student’s life?
In relation to a student’s ‘online life’ and ‘real life’, what are the
parallels and asymmetries? Has the
student ever reflected on these similarities and differences? As well as assessing problematic Internet
use, what strengths can be identified?
Knowledge of a student’s Internet use can provide important information
in assessing their level of functioning, and can also be used to inform work
undertaken with them and to maximise positive outcomes. For this reason, Gonchar
and Adams (2000) advocate for the inclusion of ‘Internet use’ in the
person-in-environment approach to social work assessments, providing case
material to support their argument.
An
important implication for student counselling practice then is simply to
routinely explore with students their Internet
use (not just for those reporting depression and anxiety, poor academic
performance), and of course for some students this might not lead very far at
all. I often find that students who
spend considerable time online for study or entertainment purposes may never
have seriously considered using the Internet for other purposes such as finding
health and well-being information or for self-help and support.
2. Cybersickness & Cyberthreats. What about the buzz around cyberpathology
and new phenomena and symptoms such as ‘Internet Addiction Disorder’ and
‘cybershakes’ or ‘cyberchondria’? For
better or worse, a new nomenclature has emerged describing Internet related
problems. Students may be introduced to
this if they come across quizzes for online addiction when ‘surfing the Net’
(eg. The Centre for Online Addiction)
or from reports in the mass media. It
is helpful for counsellors to be informed about both sides of the debate around
technological behavioural addictions – ‘Internet addiction’, for example, is a
controversial construct (see DeAngelis, 2000; Surrat, 1999).
There
also is the issue of
cyber-threats such as dangerous or offensive content of websites that may be
accessed by young people, e-stalking or other types of online harassment (eg.
as depicted in the teen-movie Swimfan).
3. Online help. A key question in relation to counselling
practice is: can a therapeutic alliance be formed online? The prospect of the further development
of computer or online counselling is like ‘death and taxes’ (see Hanlon, 2001), and it is a significant development in
the counselling field. Computer
psychotherapy has a history that covers around three decades (Turkle, 1995), and signs of ‘psychotherapeutic
behaviour’ on the Internet have been present for many years now.
Online
help is not a homogenous entity but includes live (synchronous) counselling
chat sessions, e-mail (asynchronous) counselling, video conferencing, group
chat room counselling, computer-assisted psychotherapy programs (eg. MoodGym), psycho-educational and
information websites, self help quizzes, discussion or support groups, online
psychological assessment and testing, and self-help materials for purchase over
the Internet. University counselling
websites typically only feature a few of these approaches, with counselling exclusively
taking place face-to-face (see Koppel 2001).
Students
may seek to engage Student Affairs personnel in online counselling or
electronic communication, and if so, does your workplace or professional
association have a policy or guidelines in relation to this, what issues may
arise? You may be currently providing
online counselling, or be considering working online with clients.
4. Cyberspace
makes a f-2-f appearance. Do you
have an opinion on Internet relationships?
Students may well expect their counsellor to have an awareness and
understanding of Internet relationships and online behaviour. Issues around cyber- relationships and
Internet use may be spontaneously raised in face-to-face counselling sessions
by clients. For example, cyber-affairs,
experiences
of loss of Internet friendships, online conflict (‘flaming’), the dilemma of
meeting a cyber-partner face-to-face, Internet use that negatively impacts upon
work, study, finances or family life.
5. Others. Other reasons might be less strictly ‘professional’ and more of a personal nature such as concern about a partner, your children on the Net, understanding personal or workplace computer-mediated communication dynamics. I have a strong interest in how we connect (or disconnect) with others through our typewritten communications, and see that this is especially critical in relation to student populations such as the ‘Gen Yers’.
Should your interest by roused from this article, the following
list of websites and references will provide some pathways to help further
exploration, or see what turns up using an Internet search engine.
(Thanks to Dr Darko Hajzler and Peter Carnell for their
feedback.)
Azy
Barak’s References Related to the
Internet & Mental Health
Catalyst: Computers in
Psychology
CyberPsychology and Behavior
journal
Cyberpsychology at Nottingham
Trent University
International Society for Mental Health Online
John
Suler’s The
Psychology of Cyberspace
Journal of Computer-mediated Communication
Journal of Technology in Counseling
Pew Research Centre – The Internet and
American Life project
Civin, M. A. (1999).
On
the vicissitudes of cyberspace
as potential-space. Human Relations, 52,
485.
Civin, M. A. (2000). Male, Female, E-Mail: The Struggle for
Relatedness in a Paranoid Society.
New York: Other Press.
DeAngelis,
T. (2000).
Is Internet addiction real? American Psychological Association - Monitor on Psychology, 31(4), Online: http://www.apa.org/monitor/apr00/addiction.html
[accessed 21/10/02]
Gonchar,
N., & Adams,
J. R. (2000). Living in cyberspace: Recognising the importance of the
virtual world in social work assessments.
Journal
of Social Work Education, 36(3), 587 – 595.
Hanlon, J. (2001). Disembodied intimacies: Identity and relationship
on the Internet. Psychoanalytic
Psychology,18(3), 566 – 571.
Koppel,
H. (2001, Fall). Student
counselling
services websites. Student
Affairs Online, 2. Online:
http://studentaffairs.com/ejournal/Fall_2001/koppel.htm
[acessed: 21/11/02]
Lamble,
J., & Morris,
S. (2001). Online
and personal: The reality of Internet relationships. Lane Cove, N.S.W. (Australia): Finch
Publishing,
Morris, S. (2002). How is the
Internet affecting our relationships? Psychotherapy
in Australia,8(3), 42 – 47.
Surratt,
C. G.
(1999). Netaholics?:
The creation of
a pathology. Commack, NY:
Nova
Science Publishers,.
Turkle,
S. (1995). Life on the screen: Identity in the age of the Internet. London: Phoenix.
Young,
K. (2001,Winter). Surfing not studying:
Dealing with Internet addiction
on campus.
Student Affairs Online, 2.
Online: http://studentaffairs.com/ejournal/Winter_2001/addiction.html
[accessed 21/11/02]