Hello blogosphere! I have had a busy summer and am just about to head off for my late summer vacation.

Before doing so, I wanted to share some of the fun professional things I got to participate in recently.

Open Science – Friends of the Future

On Sunday, June 26th, I got to attend an invitation-only gathering of “interesting people with good ideas,” hosted by the Institute for the Future, a 43-year-old non-profit think-tank that helps companies, governments, and other organizations think about long-term future trends to make better decisions in the present. The focus of the day was to discuss and spark ideas around the bleeding edge futures of scientific exploration across multiple disciplines over the next decade. We were asked to think about what challenges, dreams, hopes, or solutions we need to address in the next ten years.

A week before the event, I started to get a touch of “imposter syndrome” when I realized I was the only psychologist in attendance with a group of anthropologists, neuroscientists, astrobiologists, astronomers, neurophysiologists…and, well, you get the picture. I began to worry that maybe I’m not so sciency, afterall!

But, the day was so rich with fascinating exchanges. I attended four sessions: Privacy, The Future of Attention, Social Media Culture….and Colonization in Space. At one point during the latter session, a couple of astronomers stopped their great conversation to look at me with genuine interest and say, “Hey, what do you, as a psychologist think about this? Do you have ideas we are missing?”

The whole experience reminded me once again about how important I feel it is for us to go to professional conferences that are multidisciplinary and not just go to events for psychologists. I got to learn so much, and they left me feeling that it was enriching for them to have me there.

If you want to get a taste of the event, you can see all of the compiled tweets.

2011 APA Annual Convention in Washington, D.C.

Last weekend, I was in D.C. for the 2011 APA Convention. I felt like I had to hit the ground running for this one, as it was my first time attending as Digital Director of APA Division 42.

I had a jam-packed two days in D.C. which included participating in Division 42′s Mentorshoppe lunch with some great students and Early Career professionals and some great experienced psychologists.

I also got to take part in some video interviews for APA Help Center to help answer questions that the general public may have about psychological care.

Then I was off to our Symposium on 21st Century Media: What Every Practicing Psychologist Needs to Know which also featured Angel Brownawell, APA Practice Directorate Integrated Media Manager on Branding Yourself as an Expert to the Media, Nancy Shute, NPR, reporter and blogger on Tips and strategies for working with the print and broadcast media, and Deb Kotz, Health reporter, blogger, Boston Globe on How to Use Your Blog to reach the Public and the Media. I spoke on Using Social Media to Brand Yourself as a Psychologist. I learned so much from my co-presenters. Thank you! Our Symposium was chaired by Nancy Molitor, Ph.D., President of APA Division 42.

The following day was spent in the Division 42 Board Meeting. Later that evening, I got to enjoy our Awards Ceremony and Social where I was honored to receive the “Best of the IP” Award** which is a yearly award that goes to the article voted best in Division 42′s Independent Practitioner Quarterly. It was extra-special to receive this award alongside such heroes of mine as Stephen Behnke, J.D., Ph.D. and Lillian Comas-Diaz, Ph.D. who both also received awards at the ceremony. My friend and colleague, Michael Schwartz, Psy.D. also received the Mentoring Award.

Later in the evening, I took videos of a handful of the Division 42 members in attendance which I’ve added to the Youtube channel of Division 42. It makes me happy to see these folks on video whom I mostly communicate with the rest of the year via email.

And with that, I’m off to unplug until September. Enjoy the rest of August, everyone!

**My article citation is:
Kolmes, K. (2010). Developing my private practice social media policy. Independent Practitioner, Summer 2010, 30 (3), pp. 140-143.

I am home after presenting for a second time at SXSW Interactive this week. This year, SXSW included a Health track which was a great addition to their programming, and of course, it made my annual trek even more meaningful. I was delighted to be able to attend more health panels this year and to meet up with more psychologists this year (in addition to long-time attendee, John Grohol, Psy.D., who has been my sole SXSW mental health pal for the past three years).

This year, I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Susan Giurleo, Ph.D., who led a Core Conversation on Improving Mental Health Through Engaged Communities, and Pamela Rutledge, Ph.D., a media psychologist, who was on the panel Can the Internet Make Us Happy? (as an added perk, you can listen to the audio of this session on the link).

I had two complaints about the formatting of the programming (which I will frame in the form of wishes). First, I hope that future health track panels will not be segregated to a separate campus. This made it more difficult to cross-pollinate with attendees and dip into sessions from other disciplines without committing to a dash to a different venue. Second, I hope that we have larger rooms next year for the health track. I assume that there are many SXSW attendees who might be interested in checking out the health panels but running to different campuses made it somewhat prohibitive for some. It also seemed to assume we only wanted to meet amongst ourselves which may not be accurate.

My session was called Patients/Caregivers on Facebook: Establishing Boundaries Without Barriers. It was organized and moderated by Ed Bennett, Director of Web Strategy at University of Maryland Medical System. We had several fantastic panelists: Jen Dyer, MD, MPH from Ohio State University, Dana Lewis, Interactive Marketing Specialist, and Dan Goldman, who provides legal counsel at Mayo Clinic. I want to thank everyone who came out to see our session (at 9:30am on Daylight Savings Sunday, no less!) and who helped make it dynamic and engaging both in the room, and on twitter. I hope to see you all next year!

Susan Spaight posted a lovely summary of our presentation.

Dana also posted a great recap of the lively twitterfeed of our panel which I’ve embedded below. Please give it a moment to load.

Related posts about this year’s Health track at SXSW:

• Ed Bennett’s blog post about our session
• John Grohol’s summary of psychologists at SXSW this year
• Reed Smith’s post 3 Reasons SXSW Can Change Social Health
• #SXSWH, the SXSWi Health Tweet feed
• Pamela Rutledge’s wrap-up on Psychology Today
• Tracy DiMarino’s summary of our session on PR 20/20

This Friday, October 23rd, I will be presenting a 5 hour Continuing Education training that I organized for the annual Northern California Training Directors Conference. This conference will be attended by Training Directors and clinical trainees of fifteen Bay Area college counseling centers.

I will be joined by James Lyda, Ph.D., Staff Psychologist at the Tang Center at UC Berkeley, who will present a morning segment on research on Facebook and on college students’ usage of social networking sites. I’m very excited about this training and about hearing about the clinical issues that Training Directors and interns are encountering.

The outline and schedule are below:

Northern California Training Directors Conference

Clinical and Ethical Issues Related to Social Networking and College Mental Health

October 23, 2009

9:00am – 3:00pm

This training focuses on Web 2.0 social networking and its relevance to college mental health. Clinicians will learn how students are using the Internet and what related issues they may be bringing into treatment. We will also cover clinicians’ personal and professional online presence and how this may intersect with their clinical role. We will also discuss related clinical, legal, and ethical issues as they come up in social networking and  college mental health.

II. The Google Factor

II. Research on College Students’ Usage of Social Networking Sites

III. Facebook, Friending, and Privacy Settings

BREAK

IV.  Overview of Twitter, Flickr, MySpace, FriendFeed, Foursquare, LinkedIn and other sites

V. Blogging, RSS feeds, and personal ads

VI.  Clinical, Legal and Ethical Issues as they relate to the Internet and social networking

VII. Discussion

LUNCH

VIII. Small Group Breakouts with Clinical Vignettes

IX. Larger discussion of Vignettes

X. Completion of Paperwork and Surveys

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The PanelPicker doesn’t close until the end of the day next Friday, September 4th. So if you like the panel I’m co-proposing with Dr. John Grohol, and you haven’t yet voted, please do. We are working on adding some great speakers who are working within technology and psychology. And please know that comments and questions are also encouraged on the PanelPicker page.

Psychology and the Internet: From Freud to Facebook

With the popularity of online social networks and services, what’s the psychology behind how people use them? How is the Internet changing people’s lives for better (or worse)? What does the research show about how people use Facebook and Twitter? Can you get effective mental health treatment online?
Our panel will address the following questions:

1. What is research telling us about technology and mental health?
2. How are Facebook and Twitter changing our relationships with others?
3. How is technology being used to help people with mental health concerns?
4. Is e-therapy a viable alternative to face-to-face treatment?
5. Are people’s online identities merging with their real life ones, and if so, what are the ramifications of this?
6. Is technology creating new types of psychological or personality challenges?
7. How do online support groups work and are they effective?
8. What computer software programs are most helpful for which issues?
9. Is Internet addiction something to be concerned about and if so, what do you do about it?
10. What clinical and ethical issues arise when combining mental health with technology?

The SXSW 2010 PanelPicker is live today and I’m very excited about the panel that I have submitted for SXSW Interactive with John Grohol, Psy.D., CEO and co-founder of the mental health network, PsychCentral.

You can vote for our panel (and others you’re excited about seeing at SXSW 2010, including music and film panels) by heading over to the PanelPicker.

Dr. Grohol and I met at SXSW 2009 where we attended one another’s Core Conversations, both of which focused on mental health and technology. Mine was Therapy 2.0: Mental Health for Geeks, which also included a resource wiki for attendees and those who couldn’t make it to the presentation. His was Social Networking in Health: e-patients, Data, and Privacy. Both Core Conversations generated significant interest which delighted me, as I don’t typically see many health related panels at SXSW.  I was also happy to connect with another psychologist who is passionate about the relationship between psychology and social media. As you can imagine, I’m thrilled that we will be collaborating for next year’s conference, should our panel be selected.

Last year’s Core Conversation was designed as an interactive discussion with all those in the room. But this year, I’m interested in doing a more formal presentation compiling research on technology, social media, and mental health and presenting it to SXSW attendees. Here is our submission:

Psychology and the Internet: From Freud to Facebook

With the popularity of online social networks and services, what’s the psychology behind how people use them? How is the Internet changing people’s lives for better (or worse)? What does the research show about how people use Facebook and Twitter? Can you get effective mental health treatment online?

2. How are Facebook and Twitter changing our relationships with others?

4. Is e-therapy a viable alternative to face-to-face treatment?

5. Are people’s online identities merging with their real life ones, and if so, what are the ramifications of this?

6. Is technology creating new types of psychological or personality challenges?

7. How do online support groups work and are they effective?

9. Is Internet addiction something to be concerned about and if so, what do you do about it?

10. What clinical and ethical issues arise when combining mental health with technology?

We are hoping to be able to include a couple of other panelists who are involved in psychology and social media.

The PanelPicker will remain open through the end of the day on Friday, September 4th, so don’t forget to vote for the presentations that you want to see. And I hope to see you again in Austin next year.

Tonight, I’ll be heading to Vancouver to attend tomorrow’s all-day Mental Health Camp (Un)Conference.

I’m very excited to be in a place with others who will be talking about erasing stigma towards mental illness and how social media can expand the possibilities for healing and support. Can blogging, Twittering, and Facebooking provide therapeutic healing?

Isabella Mori and Raul Pacheco-Vega will be presenting the Keynote on Social Media and Mental Health. After that, twelve sessions will follow. It’s always a challenge at conferences to choose between two fascinating sessions, and Mental Health Camp will be no exception.

Some of the panels I’m most excited about are Sandra Kiume’s presention on Mental Health Marketing using Social Media which, of course, is going to be at the same time as Lorraine Murphy’s presentation on Anonymity, Pseudonymity: Freedoms, Dangers, and Responsibilities. Both of these topics interest me and I will sadly have to choose between them.

Karen Quinn Fung will be presenting on Mental Health and Cultural Sensitivity: Services and Stigma in Vancouver’s Ethnic Communities. While I don’t live or practice in Vancouver, I’m interested in this topic. But it also is during the same time as Airdrie Miller’s ERROR 404 Page Not Found presentation which is a personal story about choosing to take her blog down.

If you want to know more about the panels, you can read the full descriptions or just see the schedule.

I know the organizers are taking steps to protect people’s privacy while also sharing information that comes out of the conference with the web community at large. I know many people will be blogging about it, and I will try to link to some of those blogs when I return.

If you want to follow Mental Health Camp on Twitter, you can look for hashtag #mhc09 or just follow all Twitter conversations about Mental Health Camp.

I just found out that my proposal for Mental Health Camp has been accepted. My panel is called, “Social Networking, Visibility, and the Therapeutic Alliance.” It will be in conversation format and will address issues related to the therapist-client relationship and how both clients and therapists feel about sharing online social spaces.

I first heard of Mental Health Camp when I was in Austin and one of the primary organizers, Isabella Mori, contacted me. I was immediately interested in attending, but I wasn’t sure how I could best contribute to such a forum. I wanted to offer something useful to attendees who might be both clients and therapists working within the intersection of social networking and mental health. I kept returning to questions that feel current for me in my own practice as a therapist who is heavily plugged into social networks.

I plan to cover the following topics:

• How do clients feel about their visibility to their therapists online?

• How do clients feel about their online lives being a part of therapy?

• How do clients feel about their therapists being visible online?

• How do therapists feel about being visible to their clients online?

• Do clients desire more therapist transparency online? Or would they prefer more neutral and veiled behavior from their therapists?

• How are these issues coming up in people’s therapeutic relationships?

I recognize that many of these questions will have answers as unique as the various people responding to them. I’m hoping for a lively conversation in which people involved in different aspects of clinical care will get to express their opinions and desires.

Mental Health Camp will take place in Vancouver, British Columbia on Saturday, April 25th from 9:00am to 6:00pm. It is a one-day unconference about social media and mental health with an emphasis on how blogging can help remove the stigma of mental illness. If you’re interested in attending, check out the registration page. Note that admission is by donation and nobody will be turned away for lack of funds.

Pre-panel, Photo by Thomas Roche

I wanted to provide an update on my recent experience at SXSW Interactive. I didn’t get to go to every panel I’d wanted to attend, but I believe most people come home from SXSW feeling that way.

Therapy 2.0: Mental Health For Geeks which I co-presented with Thomas Roche, was well attended with somewhere between 50-60 people in the room. As the room filled up, I wondered whether a group of this size would really allow for  a conversation, but I was pleasantly surprised to experience people talking with one another and sharing ideas, as opposed to simply directing their comments back to Thomas and me. There was quite a bit of energy in the room as people talked about how they sometimes feel overwhelmed by information. Some mentioned issues with non-privacy while others talked about the illusion of intimacy that one gets with social networking sites. One person observed that the frequent interruptions of technology have changed her experience of what it means to be alone, which I found interesting. People talked about their own tips for keeping healthy which included hobbies, breaks, exercise, and techniques such as leaving their devices at home.

Since we were doing a Core Conversation, rather than a formal panel, I wanted to create some resource so that folks could obtain information, if they felt compelled to do so after talking about all of these issues. With that in mind, I created a Therapy 2.0 wiki where folks are welcome to find out more. Please feel free to check it out for information related to self-assessment, books, online tools, and how to find a therapist. We ended our Core Conversation with my list of five things you can do now to improve your mental health. These are also on the wiki, but I am also sharing them here.

In summary, I had a wonderful time presenting at SXSW this year and am looking forward to returning next year, regardless of whether I’m presenting or simply listening and learning from the other inspirational panelists and attendees who show up each year.

Five Things You Can Start Doing Now to Improve Your Mental Health

1. Weekly gratitude practice

Research shows that keeping a weekly gratitude journal has significant effects on increasing optimism and decreasing reported physical symptoms. But don’t overdo it. Lyubomirsky et al. (2005) found that those who practiced gratitude three times per week saw less benefit than those doing it once a week, suggesting that there may be a habituation effect and loss of gains if you do it more than once per week. Consider putting a reminder in your calendar to do this once a week.

2. Breathing exercises/Mindfulness practice

If you find yourself feeling stressed or anxious, doing a simple breathing exercise can help lower your blood pressure, lower your heart rate, and bring your attention away from distressing thoughts. It is easy to let future-focused or past-focused thoughts get in your way and this can increase depressed or anxious feelings. Be sure to breathe deeply into your lower abdomen, rather than taking shallow breaths just into your upper chest.

Breathing exercises are one component of mindfulness which is the practice of staying focused upon the present moment. There have been many studies showing the beneficial effects of mindfulness practice on depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, stress, chronic pain, and other ailments. When practicing mindfulness, sit in a comfortable place and start with the breathing. Then focus simply on being in your body. Notice your weight in the chair and the sounds you hear. If worrisome thoughts enter your mind, bring your focus back to your breath. Try to do this for 5 minutes a day and work up to 15 minutes.

You may also consider searching for podcasts that offer relaxation, breathing, and mindfulness exercises.

3. Connect with others

There is much data suggesting that social support and connection increases mental health and feelings of self-worth while simultaneously decreasing stress. Consider joining an activity group, taking a class, or even volunteering somewhere.

Have a lot of work to do? Try co-working or just go to a cafe to get your work done.

4. Exercise

There is significant data indicating that exercise relieves symptoms of depression and anxiety while also helping with insomnia. Consider combining exercise with connecting with others by joining a gym or a boot camp or organizing physical activities with friends.

5. Thought-tracking

If you’re struggling with anxiety or depression, tracking thoughts and moods can be helpful. Thought records are a cognitive-behavioral tool that can help you examine thoughts and beliefs and how they influence your mood. You may notice patterns and less useful beliefs that come up in your inner monologue with yourself. Identifying these thought patterns can be a first step in changing them.

Melissa Gira interviewed me over on Sexerati in preparation for my SXSW panel, Therapy 2.0: Mental Health for Geeks. Check out the interview to read Melissa’s questions and my answers about how a geek-friendly therapist (me!) would help a client manage challenges and stressors related to dating, love, and breakups 2.0.

Of course, if you want to join the conversation at SXSW, then please come to my Core Conversation, on Tuesday, March 17th, 3:30 – 4:30 in Room 5B of the Austin Convention Center. Thomas Roche and I will be facilitating a conversation with our attendees and we plan to cover the following topics:

• Mental health and occupational risks that tech people are susceptible to, and what they can do about it;

• How to assess your current health strategies and recognize self-care plans you may need to implement;

• Friendship 2.0, Dating 2.0, and Breakup 2.0 issues;

• Staying focused on tasks and productivity in the culture of distraction;

• Tools technology can offer for improving your mental health; and

• Resources if you realize you need more help

Since this is a Core Conversation, we’re especially interested in the questions and topics you will be bringing. So if you’re going to Austin this year, please come join the conversation and put the interactive into our panel!

I hope to see many of you there on Tuesday.

A couple of SXSW panels that I’d really like to attend managed to slip through the cracks. I’m going to blame it on the plethora of amazing talks and panels overwhelming me on my first pass. But I want to give these two a mention, as I think they should be very interesting.

Friendship is Dead by Russ Unger and David Armano will explore the difference between online and offline friendships. They ask, whether social networking tools have diluted the meaning of friendship and what it really means to add or “collect,” friends. I’m interested in topics like this which address issues of relationships and community, and how social networking can expand or constrict our notions of connection.

Also, Nerd Baiter: Using the Gadgets to Get the Geeks by Tara Brown sets out to look at how people can use social networking to attract potential dating partners. Brown says she will explore both services and applications which can be used by people to get more of what they want out of their dating lives. I’m looking forward to learning more and hearing the conversaiton that ensues.

With the Festival only just a week away, I’m getting very excited. See you in Austin!