Clinical Implications of Students' Use of Online Communication for College Psychotherapy

Cases are presented to illustrate effects of online communication by students in psychotherapy in a university counseling center. In the first, a student's use of instant messaging to convey suicide threats exaggerated the level of the danger. In the second, a student used e-mail messages to his therapist to modulate the expression of feelings prior to psychotherapy sessions. In the third, the exchange of e-mail messages by the student and the therapist between scheduled sessions, served to sustain the therapeutic work. Acceptance of the potential of this technology to enhance clinical work, along with awareness of the dangers, is recommended. (C) 2006 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.