Re: Online Therapeutic Relationship

These are good questions you're raising, Kate. I think psychotherapy in cyberspace will draw on ideas from past therapies (otherwise we throw out the baby with the bathwater), but there also will be novel features to computer mediated psychotherapy - particularly in how cyberspace environments alter the dimensions of time, space, communication style, and identity. I talk about this in one section of my online book:

http://www.rider.edu/users/suler/psycyber/therapy.html

One concept I would definitely retain is "transference." I think lots of it happens online, in part due to the ambiguity of text-only communication, as well as the unconsciously motivated quality of fantasy environments (MUDS, MOOs).

Replies:

Re: Online Therapeutic Relationship, by Barry Kort, 5/9/00 Re: Online Therapeutic Relationship, by John, 5/10/00

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