1st Edition

E-attachment and Online Communication The Changing Context of the Clinical Diagnosis and Psychological Treatment

    146 Pages 5 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    146 Pages 5 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    This book examines the use of modern technologies in clinical psychological practice. It considers how we define attachment in an age where changes in technology and the COVID-19 pandemic have increased the prevalence of online contact in the process of diagnosis and psychological treatment.

    Based on an attachment paradigm that is relatively unexplored, the book outlines how modern online contact influences mental health and development, along with the therapeutic relationship between client and professional. It discusses people’s relationships with new technologies, how relationships can be established using these technologies, and how these technologies affect professional relationships between psychologists and their clients, which they define as e-attachment. In the context of new technologies, the book draws on neurobiology and clinical psychology to consider mental health, social functioning, and emotional regulation.

    Presenting both theory and examples from case studies, this cutting-edge book will be of great interest to researchers, academics, and post-graduate students in the fields of clinical psychology, psychotherapy, and mental health. Those also carrying out research into digital and online learning within the field of mental health will also benefit from this text.

    The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license

    Introduction  1. Human development changes in modern world  2. Contemporary forms of establishing attachment  3. Attachment, relationships and new technologies from neuroscience perspective  4. Attachment based on new technologies and mental health  5. Contemporary trends in psychological diagnosis and assessment (online psychological diagnosis and therapy)  6. Psychologist dilemmas and challenges in the face of new technologies. Reflections and case studies

    Biography

    Katarzyna Sitnik-Warchulska is Clinical Psychologist, Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist and Assistant Professor at the Institute of Applied Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Poland.

    Bernadetta Izydorczyk is Clinical Psychologist, Psychotherapist and Supervisor of Psychotherapy, and Associate Professor at the Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Poland.

    Zbigniew Wajda is Clinical Psychologist, Psychotherapist and Assistant Professor at the Institute of Applied Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Poland.

    "The book by Katarzyna Sitnik-Warchulska, Bernadetta Izydorczyk and Zbigniew Wajda gives an excellent summary of relational perspectives in online diagnosis and interventions. From a background of attachment theory, the authors provide stimulating insight in clinical challenges related to the expansion of face-to-face settings to the digital realm. This is a great book for everyone interested in clinical psychology and psychosocial interventions in the age of digital communication."

    - Johannes C. Ehrenthal, Professor of Clinical Psychology and empirical-quantitative Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, University of Cologne, Germany