Conclusion

Abstract

During the course of this book, we have seen a number of ways in which technology has started to become part of the overall environment of the mental health profession. It is impossible to predict when or even if some of the applications described here will become such commonplace methods of communication as to no longer be thought of as remarkable ‘technological’ innovations when used to deliver counselling or psychotherapeutic services. Many would argue that the use of email and attachments have already become as unremarkable for other uses as the telephone. Indeed, all the material in this book was delivered from around the world by electronic attachments, and much of the editing process and development was done via email rather than by telephone or in face-to-face meetings. It is probable that access to broadband Internet will render remote communication the norm rather than the exception for international collaboration between mental health professionals, where the possibility of face-to-face communication is limited. It is predicted that 95 per cent of people in advanced nations will be computer literate by 2010 (BT Exact, 2001) and it is already suggested that the term ‘newbie’ (coined in 1982 by Martha Ainsworth to describe someone new on the Internet) is becoming redundant (Fenichel, 2002).