How technology is changing psychotherapy: perspectives from therapists
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Date
2020-08-25
Authors
Isbach, Shelly
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Abstract
Technology has become an ever-present part of our reality, and it is clear that many individuals are turning to the internet and online resources for mental health information (Giles & Newbold, 2011). In order to understand how the career of the psychotherapist has been impacted by this new technological society (Barney, 2007), it is imperative we hear from the therapists working in the field.
Drawing on Super’s Lifespan Lifespace theory (1980), and using a Constructivist Grounded Theory approach (Charmaz, 2006), this study aims to understand what impact technology has had on the career of a psychotherapist working in private practice in a Canadian landscape. Using data gathered from the individual interviews of three psychotherapists, this research indicates that while psychotherapy is providing new challenges to the career of psychotherapy, it is also simultaneously providing the resources and tools required to navigate these challenges.
The psychotherapists have to navigate changes to the structure of their career, including creating new boundaries around technology use, navigating workload changes, all while adapting and learning through these changes. Psychotherapists are also presented with new challenges in what their clients are bringing to their therapy sessions, including the impact of social media on mental health and the concerns around self- and other-diagnosis. This is changing the client-centered work that the psychotherapists must complete within their sessions with clients, navigating a new pace of psychotherapy, all while juggling the paradox that technology brings to their work. However, technology is also providing a host of resources for their clients needs, including video-therapy, medical information, and more appropriate and empowering resources for their clients needs
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Keywords
psychotherapy, career, technology, counselling, lifespan