E-Therapy: Case Studies, Guiding Principles, and the Clinical Potential of the Internet [Paperback]

Robert C. Hsiung (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0393703703 | ISBN-13: 978-0393703702 | Publication Date: November 2002

In a world of information that tends toward randomness, therapists and clinicians often need guidance regarding how best to use new technologies and yet not allow the chaos of new media to undermine their practice.

Here, a leading provider of online mental health information, Dr. Robert Hsiung, has gathered a group of distinguished contributors to discuss clinical, ethical, and legal issues pertaining to e-therapy. Full of case studies and examples of active programs that deliver mental health information and therapy via new media, E-Therapy offers first-hand accounts of the potential and risks of recent trends in 'distance therapy' and 'telepsychiatry.' Chapters include

• The Internet 'Expert': Ronald Pies
• An E-Patient's Story: Martha Ainsworth
• Chat Room Therapy: Gary S. Stofle
• Using E-mail to Support Outpatient Treatment: Joel Yager
• Community Telepsychiatry: Sara F. Gibson
• An Online Self-Help Group Hosted by a Mental Health Professional: Robert C Hsiung
• Principles of Professional Ethics: Robert C Hsiung
• Legal Ethics in On-line Mental Health: Nicholas P. Terry

Editorial Reviews

Review

Develops approaches that are practical, creative, sensitive to clients' needs, and efficient and effective for therapeutic use. (American Journal of Pastoral Counseling, Gary C. Augustin, PhD)

About the Author

Robert C Hsiung, M.D., is Deputy Medical Director of the Student Counseling and Resource Service at the University of Chicago and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry. As 'Dr. Bob,' he runs a Web site out of the University of Chicago that provides a wide range of mental health information.

Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (November 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393703703
• ISBN-13: 978-0393703702
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,688,772 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wide ranging survey, June 7, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: E-Therapy: Case Studies, Guiding Principles, and the Clinical Potential of the Internet (Paperback)

This book covers more than just e-therapy, but every chapter is full of valuable information. Generally, the term e-therapy refers to a helping relationship between a psychotherapist and patient that takes place entirely on the Internet (they never meet face to face). Two chapters in this book - the ones by Stofle and Ainsworth - cover e-therapy in depth. Stofle discusses practical e-therapy techniques for professionals. Ainsworth outlines the consumer's view, both relating her own touching and engaging personal experience, and giving advice to professionals and consumers on how to do e-therapy safely and responsibly. Contrary to what one reviewer reported below, there is copious information in this chapter to help e-patients learn how to make sure they get adequate care and how not to get ripped off.

Other chapters are more geared toward hospital and clinic-based telepsychiatry, where distance technology is used to supplement, rather than replace, traditional in-person psychiatric care. The chapter on legal issues rehearses the current legal landscape (which most industry insiders agree is obsolete) but does not offer insight about the widespread movement to update telemedicine law.

If you are a therapist interested in doing e-therapy, you may have to add other books to your library, but I would buy this book for Stofle's and Ainsworth's essays alone. They are worth reading.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Choice for reading, May 21, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: E-Therapy: Case Studies, Guiding Principles, and the Clinical Potential of the Internet (Paperback)

This book is well written and I highly recommend it. It gives excellent examples of how to intergrate e-therapy into a practice that involves mental health. It DOES discuss the legal ramifications as well as ethical issues in e-therapy. For those afraid that technology will replace the human, please don't read. But for the rest of us, who are looking to make our jobs more efficient this is a great resource.

19 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Edited books of this nature, June 28, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: E-Therapy: Case Studies, Guiding Principles, and the Clinical Potential of the Internet (Paperback)

The problem with an edited book of this nature is that the quality widely varies. Some chapters of this book come highly recommended, while others shouldn't have even been included. It's too bad, too, as some of this information is valuable for both therapists and potential online clients. Some of it is readily available, however, online already.

The editor's own chapters leave a lot to be desired, with a myopic and narcissistic view of the online world and his contributions to it. While using one's own experiences to help illustrate a point can certainly be helpful, I found all too often the editor going overboard in his chapters. He spent a lot of time describing his experiences not so much with e-therapy, but with things only marginally associated with therapy. I found such chapters to be book fillers, as though there wasn't enough to actually write about this topic.

Overall, a disappointing book. Given some of the professionals involved in it, I would've expected a more balanced review of the challenges facing not only professionals, but consumers as well. Instead, I felt like I got a warmed-over, half-baked idea for a book filled with inaccuracies and irrelevant content.