A recent and interesting article to come out of Child and Adolescent Mental Health is a brief discussion of the possibilities of using social networking sites, such as MySpace, as counselings tool to engage adolescent clients. Clemens, Shipp, and Pisarik (2008) recommend in a recent Practitioner’s Toolkit that mental health experts: a) be aware of social networking sites, and b) be knowledgeable about such sites in order to utilize these services as an occupational tool.
Summary
The amount of information that is generally shared on a social network profile, along with the interactions and encounters that take place and are digitally recorded on such sites, provide a wealth of resources at a mental health professional’s disposal for adequately meeting the needs of developing individuals. Clemens et al. suggest two approaches for approaching this data:
- Use reflection on the individual’s social networking profile as ‘homework.’ If the user steps outside of his or her own perspective for a moment, what does the profile in question say about him or her? How does a MySpace profile, for instance, shed light on the different facets of the individual’s personality? Insights arising from this private or shared introspection may guide future sessions.
- Have the individual share his or her social networking profile with the professional. The writers suggest this may prompt revealing answers to certain questions such as “in what way does your online profile capture who you are?” If the psychologist is able to remain impassive and non-judgmental through this process, such a mutual exploration can be extremely rewarding.
Clemens et al. appropriately warn of the level of trust such an openness requires and how sensitive the material posted to social networking sites can be. The article aptly explains:
Looking over a MySpace profile together might be akin to a client handing you an invisibility cloak and inviting you to tag along on a Friday night to help them make sense of how they are acting in the presence of a group of friends.
In closing, the authors state that social networking sites such as MySpace remain an “untapped resource for mental health professionals.” Much more work needs to be done to explore frameworks for counseling via these sites, but the benefits are potentially enormously rewarding.
Thoughts
It’s great to see mainstream psychologists utilizing the wealth of information available within social media to assist other human beings. Although simple observations, such as the ones in this article, barely scratch the surface of the sheer amount of data on human interactions contained within these different services, it’s essays such as this Practitioner’s Toolkit entry that provide the foundation for future quantitative research. There’s a need for psychologists to become more familiar with social media and online networks in general as more and more relationships are fostered, strengthened, or continued online.
As research continues, I suppose we’ll discover more specific causes, effects, and correlative factors between social networking personae and real-life interactions. For now, though, I’ll happily settle for foundational explorations such as this one.
Clemens, E.V., Shipp, A.E., Pisarik, C.T. (2008). MySpace as a tool for mental health professionals. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 13(2), 97-98.
