Mental Health Professionals with an interest in Social Media and Teens?: ConnectSafely Forums: Community

Avrum68

Posts: 5

From: Toronto

Registered: 8/7/08

(7 of 7)

Re: Mental Health Professionals with an interest in Social Media and Teens?

Aug 10, 2008 8:51 PM

Would you say most of your teen clients use social sites?

Yes, myspace or facebook.

Among those, would you say using social-networking sites has mostly positive impact, mostly negative, or mostly neutral?

Tough, tough question. Like anything else, a tool can be used for good and bad. Though you read stories like the Megan Meier case, and last weeks NYT article on Trolls, and red flags start popping up all over the place.

My primary interest is exploring how young people are coping with two identities: real and virtual. There was a time when you:

a) Had a semblance of control over your identity i.e. clothes you wore, friends you kept, music you listened to, etc.

b) Could maintain a degree of privacy i.e. locking your diary and photos in a box.

Those days are long gone. And your forum is a testament to how vigilant we have to be regarding our on-line identity. Even so, these secondary identities are often at the mercy of others i.e. the photos THEY upload to Facebook, the stories THEY post on their blogs, etc.

I'm fascinated by these issues, and curious to see what, if any, clinical implications will arise.

--
Avrum Nadigel, MSW, RSW
Adolescent Therapist and Consultant
http://www.nadigel.com/blog

Anne

Posts: 507

Registered: 6/26/06

(6 of 7)

Re: Mental Health Professionals with an interest in Social Media and Teens?

Aug 8, 2008 12:06 PM

Definitely interesting. Avrum68, given your therapy practice, could I ask you a couple of questions: Would you say most of your teen clients use social sites? Among those, would you say using social-networking sites has mostly positive impact, mostly negative, or mostly neutral? (There's probably a better way to word this, so feel free to reword!). Thank you for considering these Qs,
Anne
--
Anne Collier
ConnectSafely co-director

Avrum68

Posts: 5

From: Toronto

Registered: 8/7/08

(5 of 7)

Re: Mental Health Professionals with an interest in Social Media and Teens?

Aug 8, 2008 11:35 AM

> in Second Life, with the use of avatars, 1) would be a >progressive step beyond email- or phone-based therapy

For the folks that engage in Second Life, this may be true.

> 2) it's best used supplementally rather than as a >replacement to in-person therapy.

Agreed.

>the veiled anonymity, or partial anonymity, of virtual >worlds isn't helpful as a tool for "safe" self-exposure.

Ain't that the rub? If nothing else, therapy is supposed to help people move behond their "masks". Or as Adler put it, to encourage patients to meet important life goals, mainly an ability to love, work and maintain friendships.

>just blossom because the labels, social stigmas, and >other constraints of "real world" school life drop away,

Interesting. However, at some point the students are going to have to engage the real world. Then what? If the tools only provide a virtual environment to be oneself, they will be enabling, rather than helping, a false sense of self.

Very interesting stuff!

--
Avrum Nadigel, MSW, RSW
Adolescent Therapist and Consultant
http://www.nadigel.com/blog

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Edited by Avrum68 at 08/08/2008 11:36 AM

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Edited by Avrum68 at 08/08/2008 11:39 AM

Anne

Posts: 507

Registered: 6/26/06

(4 of 7)

Re: Mental Health Professionals with an interest in Social Media and Teens?

Aug 8, 2008 10:20 AM

That does seem logical, Avrum - that in-person therapy would be much preferred to tele-therapy. I didn't read the whole study by the Dutch and Italian researchers, but my sense of it was that in-world therapy, e.g., in Second Life, with the use of avatars, 1) would be a progressive step beyond email- or phone-based therapy and that 2) it's best used supplementally rather than as a replacement to in-person therapy.

I wonder if, for some people, the veiled anonymity, or partial anonymity, of virtual worlds isn't helpful as a tool for "safe" self-exposure. Tech educators talk about how, in a virtual classroom with avatars, some students just blossom because the labels, social stigmas, and other constraints of "real world" school life drop away, and they can more freely express themselves - even though other students know who they are! I found that fascinating. Anyway, thanks for posting,
Anne
--
Anne Collier
ConnectSafely co-director

Avrum68

Posts: 5

From: Toronto

Registered: 8/7/08

(3 of 7)

Re: Mental Health Professionals with an interest in Social Media and Teens?

Aug 7, 2008 5:17 PM

"Would love to get your thoughts on "immersive e-therapy,"

Hm. I spent a good chunk of time at an EAP, and witnessed the move from in-person therapy to tele and e-counseling. Our intake staff (mostly 20-21 year olds with no clinical experience) were rewarded for re-directing callers from in-person counseling to - the much cheaper - tele/email counseling. The result? Clients would try the cheaper solution, only to call back a few days later and demand an in-person therapist. Because the intake worker was rewarded for re-directs, the process would go on ad infinitum.

The whole process left a bad taste in my mouth.

I love technology. As a musician, I shudder in horror at the thought of returning to tape to record music. And as a therapist, I use every tech tool possible to connect with my clients (teens) - yet always suggest in-person counseling first.

Alas, it will be interesting to see where all this leads. I can tell you that my wife - 5th year psychiatry resident - has told me that many of her colleagues are coupling their brief therapy training and biological-oriented approach to mental health issues with psychodynamic psychotherapy.

The good news is that, even with the iPhone 3G and Web 2.0, we humans are as complex as ever before.

Thanks for warm welcome.

- Avrum

--
Avrum Nadigel, MSW, RSW
Adolescent Therapist and Consultant
http://www.nadigel.com/blog

Maureen

Posts: 667

Registered: 6/13/07

(2 of 7)

Re: Mental Health Professionals with an interest in Social Media and Teens?

Aug 7, 2008 11:22 AM

Thanks, Avrum68, and welcome!

Would love to get your thoughts on "immersive e-therapy," a hybrid therapy in clinical psychology that occurs in both virtual-world and physical-world settings. (ConnectSafely co-director Anne Collier blogs about it here.)

Makes me wonder how and if the Internet and social networking have changed traditional therapy for teens, who have "grown up online" and are generally less private than teens from previous generations.

Regards,
Maureen

~
Maureen Kochan
ConnectSafely forum manager

Avrum68

Posts: 5

From: Toronto

Registered: 8/7/08

(1 of 7)