[Diz]

Originally Posted by Sandra Bostwick

SO TRUE, Erik. I think that is partly why online communication can be so tricky. You can't read faces, tones, or body language.

I was speaking with a colleage about how I'm trying to learn to read between the lines with people online because so much communication will go on there. She kind of huffed that she would never deal with patients online because she can't see them, so doing any type of group online is never going to happen. (She is in the psych, field.)

My thought was that she had her head in the sand, because a HUGE amount of interaction, including clinical interaction, is bound to be online quite soon. I'd rather be a pioneer than the townsperson trying to keep the big road from coming into the villiage!

I can also understand why you get so few complaints. Your way comes across in your posts, and it is just what I'd hope from someone I'd be trusting to keep me alive in a crisis.

Definitely has her head in the sand!

There are already online clinical conferences for students. I recall reading a review...let me go find it...Evaluation of the content and interaction in an on...[Arch Psychiatr Nurs. 2004] - PubMed Result:

Clinical conferences have traditionally been a significant part of the education of psychiatric nurses. With the innovation and increasing popularity of Internet courses, the value of these conferences may be diluted or even lost. This study evaluates an online clinical conference for advanced psychiatric mental health students. The issues raised by students in the conferences were relevant to the objectives of the course. Content analysis of representative conferences indicated that the characteristics of involvement: personal, emotion, and metacognition, and interactivity were evident. Students reported advantages to online discussions, but acknowledged the loss of the greater spontaneity in face-to-face meetings.

And as we all know, there are already informal groups online where people with problems turn. And if you do a search, you can find an online therapist. It's the tip of what will be the iceberg. But unfortunately, it will bring a whole new world of problems. Fake therapists who have absolutely no training, but who hang out their shingle.

But do I think online therapy could work? Yes. I think therapists can read between the lines of a client's response. And of course, there are cameras that can be used to communicate online -- then you have the best of both worlds.