Cognitive therapy via the internetz?
Swinburne University of Technology’s e-Therapy Unit co-directors Dr Britt Klein and Dr David Austin have developed “internet to deliver therapy”:
Through graphics, animation, audio and video, a patient is guided through an internet-based psychological treatment. He or she is given the option to choose a male or female online presenter, to access video materials by former sufferers or watch a professor discussing treatment options and techniques relevant to the condition.
September 26th, 2008
5:20 pm
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Interesting. Although it’s not a new concept. Approx. 4 years ago I worked with Dr Michael Benjamin on myRay - myray.com an online Cognitive Behavourial Therapy application which is free to all.
September 26th, 2008
7:15 pm
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@Mark Skeet: Thanks for sharing the link - I haven’t heard about the myRay site before - although I assumed that the concept wasn’t new
I guess the question is… “is myRay successful?” do users find it useful, informative etc? Do they trust it? It would be great to hear how you think the site/concept is going, 4 years on…
September 30th, 2008
4:24 pm
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I suppose the answer to your question is what do you determine as successful
We know it has helped many many people. We still have people signing up on an almost daily basis as they find it. We’re actually pretty excited as we’re about to expand on the concept in a number of areas, give it a much needed facelift etc.
One thing we’ve struggled with is the marketing. Finance has been an issue of course and I think it could have had a much wider reach had we been better at marketing or had some government funding like the guys in our post.
I think what became clear early on is that it can’t be about monetizing the audience, we’re dealing with people who have a problem and often don’t know who to turn to. Ethically we felt advertising would be oppposite to our ethos, thus I worked on it largely for very little and Dr Benjamin ploughed money in where he could.
I’ll keep you posted if you’re interested? The draw for me is it’s a wonderful example in a sea of noise of what the Internet can actually be useful for.
October 3rd, 2008
6:47 am
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@Mark Skeet: Thanks for the detailed reply!
It does seem to be an amazing example. The daily signups and ongoing community involvement are a great indication.
Good luck with the funding. It’s great to hear that you have managed to avoid marketing to these people via the site - quite rare in the current web
Keep up the great work!
October 22nd, 2008
9:04 pm
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thanks..