Opportunities and Challenges of Cyberpsychology for Social Change
Sylwia Korsak: Counsellor in private practice; Digital wellbeing counsellor, coach, and consultant at VoxelHub.org (@voxelhub on social media / @voxelhuborg on IG)
The British Psychological Society defines cyberpsychology as a 'scientific inter-disciplinary domain that focuses on the psychological phenomena which emerge as a result of the human interaction with digital technology, particularly the Internet'. Since John Suler's Psychology of the Cyberspace was published in the 1990s, the discipline developed in multiple directions within psychology, technology and other industries, including therapy and social change.
Cyberpsychology includes the examination of how digital technologies facilitate social justice. I am writing this from Bristol, reflecting on the role of the internet after the Colston statue fell, followed by tangible change locally and globally. It's hard to ignore the impact of digital technologies on our societies. From free access to knowledge and uncensored citizen journalism, through the rise of fundamental social movements like #MeToo or #BlackLivesMatter, influential individual voices standing up to defend human rights, and up to work towards a more just and inclusive digital future, it's hard to ignore the impact of the Internet on our clients and us.
While the world is utilising digital innovation intuitively and embracing its benefits, we need to ask ourselves, as practitioners, ‘How we can use cyberpsychology in our daily work more effectively for a kinder and more just world?’
The 2018 edition of the BACP Ethical Framework clarified the guidance for social media use for counsellors and clients. However, the broad interest in digital technologies for mental health is still mainly facilitated by the necessities of the Covid+ reality. Cyberpsychology is unavailable in the core educational curriculum and is only slowly entering the more progressive CPD platforms. At the same time, digital innovation moves forward with very little ethical consideration or professional input from mental health practitioners. The practical applications of digital innovation in therapy still need to be improved.
In this article, I introduce cyberpsychology's opportunities and challenges for our work. With a curious, open mind, we can wisely progress in our general digital competence and identify exciting opportunities for social justice for all.
Opportunities
Insights: cyberpsychology helps us understand our experiences, rights, and social positioning in the digital age. It demystifies the mythical binary divide between the virtual and (what Suler calls) 'grounded' reality. Since last November, we have reached over 8 billion of us on this planet, and 5.16 billion of us are internet users spending an average of 6.5 hrs a day online via a wide range of devices (95% own a smartphone, 30% a smartwatch, 16% a TV streaming device and a smart home device, 5.6% a virtual reality device). Our digital competence impacts our prospects, internet access, and online rights. Researching what this means to our human experience is critical to understanding ourselves and humanity's just future.
Professional frameworks offer best practices for client safety: cyberpsychology practitioners offer us insights which can easily be embedded in our professional competence so that we can support our clients ethically and safely. The BACP Ethical Framework and other professional bodies expect us to work only within our professional competence. However, with the fast-paced innovation of the digital age and minimal cyber education for the therapeutic professions, many practitioners need to gain appropriate training. Many practitioners work with the benign and toxic disinhibition effect online and in virtual reality, digital play therapy, geek therapies etc., often without realising that those processes and practices are present in their sessions already.
Future-proofing our practice for social change: digital innovation moves quickly ruled by the tech industry's wealth, power, and solutionism. Therapy professionals must enter this conversation and highlight the impact of new developments on our clients. Let's take, for example, the 2019 announcement that AI may be used in the IAPTus programme. AI solutions are trained on decades of human data and thus operate on outdated social standards and ethics. AI is biased. If rolled out, this technology would have profound consequences on our work. Cyberpsychology insights offer relevant insights for aware and informed work with digital aspects of our work now and in the future.
Challenges
Negative technology bias dominating the public discourse leads to the avoidance of the topic: practitioners and research shy away from digital issues, while regulatory bodies introduce laws and frameworks without solid scientific evidence. We see very little interest in debunking digital myths. Let's take, for example, young people's digital rights and mental health. We know that screens per se do not harm our health, yet we still centre our conversations around screen time. We know young people are active online from an early age, yet we still prefer to shut the conversation by asking them to put the phone down. We know that the actual impact of social media on young people is less detrimental than that of wearing glasses or eating mashed potatoes. Yet, we still mention social media as the first cause of young people's poor mental health. We know that the WHO's and APA's move to include gaming in the list of mental health disorders aims to encourage research into this area and open the discussion on this complex topic. Yet, we still compare online gaming to drugs and alcohol addiction. We make and voice unfounded assumptions daily, which can cloud our professional judgement in the room with the client.
Lack of professional training: we have a minimal choice of professional training. Forced by the reality of lockdowns, the regulatory bodies in the UK put in place guidance for online work. In my personal experience, cyberpsychology is nonexistent and often disliked by training providers. I was fortunate to work with incredible tutors, so when I wrote about those topics, I received excellent professional support and feedback, but that's only possible on an individual level. We must seek training outside our industry and integrate it into our professional practice.
Lack of dialogue: especially between therapeutic and digital industries. Arriving in this profession with a solid digital background, I worry that the lack of dialogue between mental health and digital professionals may result in solutions and practices that are potentially inaccessible for all, if not harmful.
Some challenges are fundamental. Not everyone can afford an iPhone or a VR set for augmented reality solutions for anxiety work. Many parents need help to provide a good Internet connection and software for their children's online ProReal VR counselling. Only some women can access Zoom counselling from home safely.
Other challenges are complex and may impact large groups of people. We already feel the algorithmic bias when we apply for a mortgage, insurance, or loan. We may already feel dizzy when using VR sets, unaware of the gender bias in their design. We already witness biased image recognition solutions when we cue to the automatic customs gates.
The ethical frameworks of therapeutic work provide a fantastic opportunity to inform the digital solutions clients use today and will use in the future.
Ideas for actionable change in your practice
The seismic shifts in our societies due to digital innovation may feel like an overwhelming area to enter as a practitioner. However, you can take small actions today toward this change. Here are some ideas to start with today:
Work on your negative tech bias: here are some helpful questions to ask;
Use digital technologies actively to have a good understanding of client's experiences: learn the language, options and choices your clients can make online for better digital wellbeing;
Practice your digital rights: for example, ask your mobile operator to remove the default parental controls so your Internet access is not filtered;
Advocate for social change in digital aspects of your work: for example, consider how pronouns are used in email signatures and other apps at work;
Model interest in cyberpsychology: for example: write an essay about virtual reality therapy on your course to signal the need for training;
Assess your competence in digital therapies and educate yourself (here’s a list of books to start with): lean into your professional training and research available options in and outside of your profession;
Stay informed and open to complexity: we are only discovering the benefits and risks of the digital age, so when you read research and news, practice balanced critical thinking.
I hope this short introduction to some challenges and opportunities of the digital age has inspired you to explore cyberpsychology. The more curiosity and pragmatic optimism we all invest in those areas and aspects of our work, the more active input we will have in shaping the critical, balanced, and inclusive support for health and wellbeing in the emerging digital future. Some of us are already doing this work, so I hope you will be tempted to join us! Thank you for reading; I look forward to your reactions and contributions.
