‘Online Mental Health’ at Psychology, Philosophy and Real Life

Thank you for bearing with us during a few technical hitches we experienced last week. One of our stories wound up on the front page of a popular social bookmarking site, and with tens of thousands of additional visitors arriving by the hour, our systems had a tough time keeping up.

Having been providing online counselling services continuously since 2003, I’ve decided it’s time for a break.

You haven’t seen your family for weeks. Your job performance is literally a matter of life and death. You’re cooped up in a small living space with work colleagues, and you can’t even step outside for a quick breath of fresh air. You’re an astronaut in space, and you’re depressed. Who can you turn to? The answer — a new computerised therapy system being developed for NASA — might turn out to be pretty useful right here on Earth, too.

Who does online therapy appeal to? Who can make the most use of it? Is it just a next-best for people who cannot access ‘proper’ face to face therapy services, or might it actually be ideally suited to certain personality types?

Would you like to help with a new study investigating the process of online therapy as it is experienced by clients?