1.
Dr Sheri Jacobson
The Impact of Digital Innovation on
Clinical Practice
for

2.
Speaker background
• Trained as a psychotherapist in 1999
• Multiple approaches: person-centred (CSCT), existential &
psychodynamic (Regent’s), cognitive (Institute of Psychiatry)
• Founded Harley Therapy in 2006, 250 000+ sessions
• 6 clinics in London with 40 in-house therapists/psychiatrists
• 1 million+ annual blog readers
• In weekly therapy since 17
• Retired as clinician to develop service
• HarleyTherapy.com tech platform to democratise therapy
• Therapy evangelist!

3.
Today’s Agenda
1. Look at the types of digital innovation
2. Consider how clinical practice is changing
3. Getting equipped for the future

4.
How industries are being disrupted
Hotels. Valuation of Airbnb $31bn. More listings (4 million) than top
5 hotel groups inc Hyatt, Marriot & Hilton.
Car industry. Autonomous/self-driving (regulatory hurdles), electric
vehicles
Professional services. Translators. Financial advisors. Cashiers.
In the next 20-30 yrs there will be more changes on us than in the
last 1000 (B. King ‘Augmented’)

5.
Credit: Asgard VC

6.
Pace of change
Why is change happening so fast?
Innovation. Diffusion. With more interconnected world, technologies
are adopted faster and spread wider.
Acceleration. The gap between early & late adopter is decreasing
Exponential changes. Progress is built upon progress and
escalates.
Notion of ‘singularity’ - technological advancement reaches escape
velocity - any problem of mankind can be solved through powerful
computing (Ray Kurzweil)

7.
Views of Future
Optimistic - Productivity, job creation, less drudgery, improved
welfare.
Pessimistic - Income inequality, mass unemployment,
breakdown in social order
Balanced view - (Sergey Brin Google Annual Letter - warning of
Dickensian ‘Best of times / Worst of times’ 28th April 2018)

8.
…the idea of the future being different
from the present is so repugnant..that
most of us offer a great resistance to
acting on it in practice.
History shows that once a technology takes hold in an industry,
there is usually no successful defence for a business. Are
traditional clinical services at risk?

9.
What changes are happening in the
mental health sector?
What place will psychology have in this ‘smart world’?

10.
Employment 1900s v 2020s
Credit: B King ‘Augmented’ p 56
[redo chart?]
[circle Psychology
Counselling
Therapy]

11.
E-payments
SMS therapy
Chat bots*Algorithms
Wearables
*Augmented & Virtual reality AR / VR
*Collective databasesData processing
On demand services
Artificial Intelligence (Therapist robots)
Diagnostics
Treatment
DigestiblesSensors
Search
Carebots
Computerised therapy
Machine Learning

12.
Technology that can detect
emotional traits.
Can be added to personal
assistant devices via API

13.
Carebots
Credit: Quora - Roeber Robotics

14.
HarleyTherapy.com uses algorithms to rank therapists.
Therapists can work remotely via Zoom
Pseudo-anonymisation of data allows for service
improvement.
Can see what the therapists offer and what clients are
searching
How these are used in practice?
Example

15.
Clinical Implications
Algorithms - powering search and assessment in a feedback loop
Medium: Text, Chat, Email, Video, AR/VR, Robots v Face to
Face
Data & Privacy Collection. Regulation - GDPR & PSD2
Presenting issues - living in a world of AI/robots, living longer
(transhumanism), gamification & addiction,

16.
Considerations
Immediacy
‘Humanity’ / Depth of care
Measurable & Feedback loop

17.
Questions
•Is quicker matching beneficial to clients, or is there merit in
patience - giving time to reflect?
•Is ‘shopping’ for a therapist acceptable?
•Is reviewing therapists ethical?
•Is remote therapy (and will VR be) as ‘effective’ as face-to-face?
Even if so, isn’t the human connection different and does it
matter?
•Is data collection a risk to privacy? Are human experiences going
to be reduced to data?
•Is there a loss of clinical material as a result of e-payments

18.
To hold in mind as you adopt new technologies
Guidelines
Human connection is invaluable
Best interests of client

19.
Predictions
A growing need for psychological services due to
the impact of technology, fragmented attention,
social real-world isolation, fewer people to listen to
us in depth.

20.
Summary
Our profession is not immune to digital disruption
• Anticipate new technologies
• Evaluate the impact on your work
• Evolve and adjust

21.
Recommended reading

22.
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