I have been writing and thinking about how to create a sense of presence in online counselling sessions but I have not defined presence.  I would like to explore the concept with you now.

Defining presence is not easy.   It’s an abstract concept.  Not easily quantifiable.  Yet we know when we experience it.  I recently heard someone describe a facilitator.  They said, “they were ‘warm’ but it was a fake ‘warm’”.  I had to laugh.  I’ve been in those courses, seminars, counselling sessions, etc. where presence was not present.  Haven’t you?

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A friend sent me a link to an article in the Globe and Mail titled “Relief from anxiety may be as close as your BlackBerry.”  http://tinyurl.com/4yerbpg Researchers have been experimenting with computer based “attention retraining” as a means of reducing anxiety.  The results so far have been quite interesting.  What they are doing now is even more interesting – running a trial to see if this treatment can work using an iPhone, iPod Touch or Android smartphone (http://www.handheldtrainingstudy.com/).  Yes, you heard me correctly.  Use your phone to reduce your anxiety.  Anywhere, anytime.

I decided to do some further reading and research on this anxiety study.  What I read indicated that these researchers are being conscientious and cautious [two thumbs up] which means it’s not on the market yet.  If the results using the smartphones are as positive as earlier results it could be a boon to anxiety sufferers.

Spurred on by this research into the creation of a new therapy app I started to investigate smartphone apps designed for therapeutic use that are already on the market.

In amongst all the games, entertainment, education, music, podcasts and business apps you will find hundreds of ‘therapeutic’ applications.   Apps topics include: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, mood logs, sleep disorders, anxiety, stress management, worry, smoking cessation, positive thinking, affirmations, relationship problems, and mental health self-diagnosis.  Ranging from the highly questionable [which I won’t name!] to the highly reputable – for example, PTSD Coach (put out by the National Center for PTSD).

I could see that some of the apps would be useful adjuncts to therapy.  Sorting through which ones might actually have merit is not an easy task.  However, I think applying an ethical framework would help.  Do the creators of the app provide enough information to fit the criteria of “informed consent”?  Do they address the issues of confidentiality?  What about the author’s competence in this area?  Have they addressed risk management?  I could go on about beneficence, fidelity, nonmaleficence, autonomy, justice, and societal interest but I think you get the idea.

This quotation from Goss & Anthony seems appropriate.  “The question that remains to be addressed, of course, is of where these possibilities will take us next and what we all – practitioners and clients alike – should do about them once they are there”.  [1]

In the meantime I had recommended an app to a client in need of anger management.  Wait, what’s that you said?  Angry Birds is not an anger management app?  Hmmm, guess I should take a closer look next time.

Dawn Schell, MA, CCC is an affiliate of Therapy Online www.therapyonline.ca

The opinions expressed in this blog post are personal.

“Your assignment is to find a 24-hour period during which you can pledge to give up all media: no Internet, no newspapers or magazines, no TV, no mobile phones, no iPod, no music, no movies, no Facebook, Playstation, video games, etc..”

[visualizing the reactions of students when they were given this assignment – gasp, gulp, shudder, heart racing, palms sweating]  You want me to do what? But what will I do?

How do you feel when you hear about this assignment? Relieved? Anxious?  Curious?

Recently, almost 1,000 students from 10 countries were asked to complete this assignment.  Once they had gone through a media-free 24-hour period they wrote about their experiences.  And write they did.  Close to half a million words.  They wrote about how difficult it was for them to live for 24 hours media-free, how they felt “addicted” to media and how anxious/depressed/bored/lonely they felt without media.

If you have not yet heard about or seen this study you can check it out here:

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