This is a presentation I did in Estonia in may 2013 for several NGOs and invited by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and their Estonian partners

1. Internet based information and
councelling services for children –
Norwegian experience
Svein Øverland
Brøset Forensic Center, St. Olavs Hospital
Norway
Psykologivirkeligheten.blogspot.no

2. The traditional view of the internet

3. The new reality

4. Times are a changing
• The world has changed in so many ways
• This change has had a huge impact for
banking, newspapers and medicin
• But what about psychiatry?

5. Cosplay and Torucon

6. From zombiefilms to zombiewalks

7. Cyber warfare

8. Cyber pets

9. Geminoids

10. Young people have always dreamt
of a better world

11. Internet enables them to do
something about it

12. Mange synes Real Life ikke virker

13. But before we critize, - do we do enough?

14. The question is not
• If internet are here to stay or not
• or if this is the way it should be,
• but how to adopt and develop our own
services to better meet our patients needs

15. Melanie Klein and Play therapy

16. Søren Kierkegaard
• “If One Is Truly to Succeed in Leading a Person
to a Specific Place, One Must First and
Foremost Take Care to Find Him Where He is
and Begin There.
• This is the Secret in the True Art of Helping”.

17. Definition of online therapy
“The use of computers as tools to enable
and/or enhance the provision of therapeutic
services”.
Abraham Wolf, 2003

18. But it is so much more
• Blogs; - liseliten.com and
psykologivirkeligheten.blogspot.no
• Computer games; - SIMS
• Robot pets and geminoids; - Paro and Henrik
• Textbased nonsyncronized communication;
text messages and e-mail (as supplement or
by its self)
• Telephone contact and assisted self help, as
stand alone or during the waiting-list period

19. …and more
• Closed forums; - selvskading.net
• Realtime communication; - chat
• Virtual worlds and avatars; - SecondLife
• Specialized Virtual vorlds for treatment; -
InWorld and VEPSY
• Smart phone applications; - StopSelfHarm
• Integrated portals with multiple services
the future

20. Waiting for the psychologist in
Habbo.no

21. The StopSelfHarm app

22. Exposure therapy in virtual reality

23. Skills training in groups

25. Evidence based
• Good support for ”BluePages”, ”MoodGYM”,
”Good Days Ahead” and ”Beating the blues”
• There is ample evidence for the use of online
therapy for anxiety and depression
• Inworld have good data on spesific population
like autistic children and social skills
• NICE guidelines exist
• The Norwegian Psychologist Association has
developed their own guidelines

27. Online and digital therapy as supplement
• The aim is not to replace standard psychotherapy,
but to use it as a supplement for services that are
lacking, and to enhance the effect of standard
therapy
For communication with clients that has difficulties
in utilizing the standard services; because of
distances, shame, or need for very specialized
expertice
For more effective treatment; as homework, crisis
management or during waiting list
For getting inspiration to further developing more
effective ways of delivering help and treatment

28. The development of online therapy
in Norway
• A handful of entrepeneurs and clinical
psychologist in private practice has developed
their own web-solutions
• The growing interest has led the universities
to develop their own programs
• Several studies has shown promising and cost-
effective results

29. Some interesting projects in Norway
• Blue Pages and MoodGym both for adults and
adolescent, University of Tromsø
• Online therapy and diagnostics for adults and
adolescents in, University Hospital of Bergen
• Integrated telepsychiatry, University of
Tromsø
• "The thought bank", University of Trondheim
(NTNU)
• Telephone based assisted self help, several
places

30. The future of online therapy in
Norway
• A continued development and research of the
effect of online therapy in the universities,
hopefully coordinated by the health
authorities
• A growing interest and use by the private
health care sector
• A stronger focus on confidenciality,
encryption, training and guidelines

31. My office in SecondLife

32. But it is not the real thing, is it?
• Thats true. You loose most of the everpresent
natural small signals of the face, the twinkle in
the eyes, the signs of someone soon starting
to cry, the subtle dance between souls, the
smell of fear and pheromones, the tender
shaking of an an eyelid, - all those precious
little moments of being a vulnerable and
suffering human being.

33. Possible pitfalls
• Some clients will find it to be too strange
• It can be alienating
• Done unwisely it can breach confidentiality
• It might be “too” cost-effective
• ?
• ?
• ?

34. Virtual Reality is ”the new world”

35. And what is Reality?
• “Reality is merely an illusion ... It is just a very persistent
one”
Albert Einstein
• "When the online services of the future is starting to
develop, we have an obligation as psychologists to be
proactive both in scientific and ethical ways"
The president of the norwegian psychologist association
• "The difference between online therapy and standard
psychotherapy is like the difference between poetry and
prose"
Eva Jacobsen – Psykologonline on LinkedIn

36. Vi har tre muligheter

37. Good luck to us all!

38. www.psykologivirkeligheten.blogsp
ot.no