Kate Anthony

OTI Europe Ltd | Consultancy, Personal Training and Research for Online Therapeutic Services

   

TILT’s Yin and Yang

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Stuart Miles yin yang

Ever noticed how DeeAnna’s blog is pertier than mine?!

Those of you familiar with Therapeutic Innovations in Light of Technology will be familiar with our in-house style. We put as much care into how TILT looks as we do soliciting interesting and dynamic content for you. Our dedicated team of columnists know what we want, and apart from a few images here and there which just can’t live up to the high technical specifications of producing the magazine, we do our contributors justice, we feel.

But you may be interested in just how the yin and yang of DeeAnna and I actually fits into its production, from coming up with the title itself to every issue you have read.

That’s not to suggest that DA and I are opposites – that is very much not the case. We share a philosophy and work ethic that has led to the steady growth of the Online Therapy Institute to be our life/work achievement since 2008, providing education and training not just in our core field of psychotherapy, but also our sister fields of coaching and complimentary health provision. We live 3,300 miles apart (and that’s as the crow flies, never mind the miles we tread searching for coffee and the occasional airport cocktail en route). We work five hours apart, meaning that we have to synch our day to take that into account when it comes to deadlines and check-ins with each other. And most importantly, we have to recognise each other’s strengths, and work to them accordingly.

With the production of TILT, my wordy yin plays to DeeAnna’s visual yang. Give me 100,000 words to edit or write, and I am a happy bunny. Ask me to come up with a visual that both illustrates and demonstrates a concept, and I will probably pack up my virtual bags and head for the Scottish Highlands to avoid you. It’s just not in my genetic make-up.

But of course, that isn’t a problem when it comes to producing TILT, because I have DeeAnna!

DeeAnna’s strength often lies in the visual. She can conceptualise what it is the words are trying to say, and then choose visuals to compliment and demonstrate the power of those words. An early adopter of Pinterest, she can see how online vision boards fit into our work, for example – whereas my Pinterest account still has two images pinned as far as I recall – Linlithgow Palace and the logo of an organisation I have forgotten. DeeAnna introduced me to PicMonkey, which she swears by, around four weeks ago and the tab is still open on my laptop untouched. I agonise over every image so far on this blog and still have no idea whether it conveys what I want it to.

So with TILT, I take first lead on submitted columns and features. I merrily edit away before uploading to Dropbox for DeeAnna’s turn. A folder of words sits waiting for the magic to happen.

And then poof – when DeeAnna’s visual yang kicks in, I see images aplenty uploading. We consult on the cover image only (which tends to consist of me ummming and ahhhhing a lot). We turn it over to our wonderful designer Delaine, and a new edition of TILT is born.

According to Wikipedia today,

“Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary (instead of opposing) forces interacting to form a dynamic system in which the whole is greater than the parts.”

And, as a wordy kinda gal, that just about sums TILT up for me.
🙂

“Image courtesy of Stuart Miles/FreeDigitalPhotos.net”.

Meeting Lara Croft! The BACPC Birmingham Networking Meeting

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Meeting Lara Croft!

conference room

By Elizabeth Barclay, BACP Coaching Division Member

At the Birmingham BACP meeting on Tuesday 1 April it was both illuminating and informative to meet the ‘Lara Croft’ of online coaching and therapy (aka Dr Kate Anthony).

We were taken on our ‘initiation’ journey and I have to confess my own reservations at the outset. I am a hesitant ‘net’ user except for the basics and contacting my family and friends! Having worked in the NHS for many years and coming from a medical family, I am and always have been very concerned with confidentiality and boundaries.

Kate talked us through the cyber journey and it’s complexities (of which there are many) as well as the responsibilities involved for any practitioner engaged in working in the cyber world. Kate has been involved in working with BACP to develop specific guidelines for online working and she believes BACP are very forward thinking in their approach to the online world.

There was much discussion as the evening progressed and whilst many of the processes of the face to face world apply in the cyber world. For example: ethics, codes of practice, competency, contracting, boundaries, supervision, assessment, safety, containment, crisis intervention,security & endings.

There are areas that require more thought when the relationship isn’t face to face ie with two bodies inhabiting the same physical space in the room.  The practitioner is required to have a good understanding, training and competency in the technology involved and all the mediums one might offer to work within.

There are many potential interface options: forums, blogs, chatrooms, apps, VoIP, video, email, text, instagrms, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, holograms, virtual reality to name some. No doubt I have omitted some due to being a ‘technological immigrant’ or in simple words an older person who was not brought up with the technology!

Consideration would need to be given to preferences of working mediums and possibilities and difficulties this might create for oneself and clients.

An awareness of the permanence of the digital footprint of technology is required. This includes a foot print of one’s work in written, audio or verbal context, hence the importance of using safe and secure sites. I learnt that certain sites are unsecure and Kate considers them inappropriate for client material.

Skype for example, own the record of your data and retains the right to publish your data at any time if it chooses to do so. An alternative is VSEE.com which is reportedly much safer [Note from Kate: check out PlusGuidance for a full e-practice service!].

Implications for one’s own responsible networking, professional and personal digital footprint: Kate reports that  prospective clients will ‘google’ us. Remember the 6 degrees of separation? Well according to Kate that is now only 4.7 in the light of social media!  She makes the valid point that if you are out partying and a client can access this information then the client might interpret it as you are ‘not holding them in mind’. One does not know how one’s digital footprint will be accessed and interpreted so worth bearing in mind! To quote Kate “someone will know someone and someone might be identified.” And none of us would want to be identified if we were a client so the possibility of dual relationships needs to be addressed at the outset.

Practitioner websites need to be clear in what policies they are offering including the cyber methods of working, security, competency, formal assessment, supervision, client safety, crisis intervention and plan B if/when the technology might fail. What are the protocols?

Contracting is always important but with online working I think it would be even more important to discuss expectations of response times. Given the nature of the cyberworld is that it is instantaneous what are the implications for working practice?

Disinhibition Effect (Suler 2004, referred to by Kate): This is important to be aware of as behaviour can change when there is a ‘distance’ between the two parties and people can reveal much more in the cyber world. This can apply to the coach/therapist as well as the client. Despite this, Kate believes the positives outweigh the negatives.

Abuse / bullying is an ongoing problem encountered in the cyberworld and the impact is severe. Protection of oneself as a coach/therapist is an important consideration. Clients need to be aware of the process they are engaging in and Kate suggests time is spent in preparation/ discussion with the client before commencing any work. They need to be aware of the permanence of the digital footprint, safety and the best cyber medium for themselves.

There is much to reflect upon after the evening, including meeting our clients in the world they operate in, and accepting the possibilities that cyber working offers greater access to services for a greater number of people who might otherwise be trapped on a waiting list for face to face work.

So in summary, an entertaining evening but also practical and there is much support out there for those who wish to pursue this work or if they already do so. Kate offers training – PG certificate Cyberculture for Therapeutic Purposes, peer support, 1-1 tuition, 1-1 mentoring.

I will have missed some information being human and with my own selective processes but is the challenge as a coach/therapist to consider embracing the new whilst maintaining one’s integrity, professionalism and skills. Perhaps it is not an ‘either/or’ situation but a ‘both/and’ possibility?

So many thanks to Kate.

Kate’s website/footprint:

www.kateanthony.net
kate@onlinetherapyinstitute.com
www.onlinetherapymagazine.com – TILT magazine