I’m happy to report that our slides are up summarizing the data Dan Taube and I collected on clients encountering their psychotherapist’s information on the Internet.

We will soon be writing up our findings to submit for publication, but I’m pleased to be able to share this data with all of the folks who participated in our research and those who helped us reach out to potential participants. We could not have done this without the magic of social media and all of your help!

I’m very appreciative and I hope that our findings help bring greater awareness and understanding to how the Internet and social media are impacting the psychotherapy relationship.

Are you a person 18 years old or over, who has been in psychotherapy, and has sought or found information about your therapist on the Internet? If so, we would appreciate your taking the time to complete a survey.

Our names are Keely Kolmes and Dan Taube and we are licensed psychologists who would like to request your participation in our research on the effects of encountering your past or current therapist’s information on the Internet. This study has been approved by the Institutional Review Board of Alliant International University.

As a participant, you will be asked to complete an online survey covering your basic demographic information and your experiences regarding seeking or accidentally discovering information about your therapist on the Internet. We expect the survey to take about 20 to 35 minutes to complete.

Your input may help therapists to better understand if and how this information affects clients.

No names or personal information will be linked to the study and your participation will be completely anonymous so long as you do not put your name in your responses. If you should wish to contact the researchers directly, your participation may become confidential rather than anonymous, although your name will not be linked to any of the data you submit.

To be eligible for the study, you must be 18 or older, currently in psychotherapy, or have been in psychotherapy in the past, and have encountered or sought information about your therapist on the Internet.

If you meet the above criteria and are interested in participating in the study, you can access the survey at:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/finalclient

If you do not qualify for the study but you know others who might be interested in participating, feel free to forward this notice or URL. You may also share our research page with others on Facebook.

Thank you for your interest and participation.

Sincerely,

Keely Kolmes, Psy.D. moc.liamhsuhnull@semlokkrd

Daniel Taube, Ph.D., J.D. ude.tnaillanull@ebuatd

Therapist-Client Interactions on the Internet

Thank you to everyone who participated in our survey. The summary of the results of the research Dan Taube, J.D., Ph.D. and I conducted on psychotherapists who have had intentional and accidental extra-therapeutic encounters with their clients on the Internet are posted on my research page. A larger slideshow can be viewed here.

To read a brief lit review and description of the research, please see our article Clinical implications of therapist-client interactions on the Internet: Boundary considerations in cyberspace.

If you are looking for the results of the survey on therapists encountering client information on the Internet, please note that we have extended our data collection period.

Results of our survey will be posted on this blog by August 30th, 2010.

Please check back then.

December 17, 2009

Dear Therapists,

Our names are Keely Kolmes and Dan Taube and we are licensed psychologists who would like to request your participation in our research on the effects of encountering client information on the Internet on practicing therapists. This study has been approved by the Institutional Review Board of Alliant International University.

As a participant, you will be asked to complete a brief online survey covering your basic demographic information and your experiences regarding seeking or accidentally discovering client information on the Internet, on both search engines and social networking sites. We expect the survey to take between 15 and 25 minutes to complete.

Your input may help establish better guidelines for managing the effects of data obtained via Internet on the therapeutic relationship. It may help therapists gain more information about working in a world with increasing potential overlap with clients in an online environment.

As no names or personal information will be linked to the study, your participation will be completely anonymous. If you should wish to contact the researchers directly, your participation may become confidential rather than anonymous, although your name will not be linked to any of the data you submit.

To be eligible for the study, you must be: a) a practicing psychotherapist (Ed.D. LCSW, M.Ed. MD, MFT, MSW, Ph.D., Psy.D. or student intern) in any area of counseling, psychology, or psychotherapy who is b) also utilizing the Internet in either your professional or private life.

If you meet the above criteria and are interested in participating in the study, you can access the survey at:

Therapist Survey

If you do not qualify for the study but you know others who might be interested in participating, feel free to forward this url.

Thank you for your interest and participation.

Sincerely,

Keely Kolmes, Psy.D. drkkolmes [at] gmail [dot] com

Daniel Taube, Ph.D., J.D. dtaube [at] alliant [dot] edu

October 19, 2009

Dear Therapists,

Our names are Keely Kolmes and Dan Taube and we are licensed psychologists who would like to request your participation in our research on the effects of encountering client information on the Internet on practicing therapists. This study has been approved by the Institutional Review Board of Alliant International University.

As a participant, you will be asked to complete a brief online survey covering your basic demographic information and your experiences regarding seeking or accidentally discovering client information on the Internet, on both search engines and social networking sites. We expect the survey to take between 15 and 25 minutes to complete.

Your input may help establish better guidelines for managing the effects of data obtained via Internet on the therapeutic relationship. It may help therapists gain more information about working in a world with increasing potential overlap with clients in an online environment.

As no names or personal information will be linked to the study, your participation will be completely anonymous. If you should wish to contact the researchers directly, your participation may become confidential rather than anonymous, although your name will not be linked to any of the data you submit.

To be eligible for the study, you must be: a) a practicing psychotherapist (Ed.D. LCSW, M.Ed. MD, MFT, MSW, Ph.D., Psy.D. or student intern) in any area of counseling, psychology, or psychotherapy who is b) also utilizing the Internet in either your professional or private life.

If you meet the above criteria and are interested in participating in the study, you can access the survey at:

Therapist Survey

If you do not qualify for the study but you know others who might be interested in participating, feel free to forward this url.

Thank you for your interest and participation.

Sincerely,

Keely Kolmes, Psy.D. drkkolmes [at] gmail [dot] com

Daniel Taube, Ph.D., J.D. dtaube [at] alliant [dot] edu

If you’re going to be in San Francisco on November 24th-26th, you may want to consider attending the Happiness & Its Causes Conference which will feature workshops all exploring happiness. The conference will bring together psychologists, philosophers, scientists, educators, business people, artists, and healthcare workers and promises to be both educational and inspirational.

Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend this conference, but some of the panels that I wish I could sit in on include Deconstructing Happiness, which will talk about different happy emotional states and eastern vs. western conceptions of happiness, as well as neuroplasticity and concsiousness; and Providing the Conditions for Happiness, which will address the work environment that Google provides for its employees, managing harmony in metropolitan environments, and how to alleviate human suffering for those who cannot afford health insurance. I also would have liked to attend How to Make Relationships Work, since relationships and couples counseling is a primary interest of mine and I’m always interested in learning new perspectives on how to enhance one’s relatedness to others.