Text therapy

[psych844]

---

Members do not see this ad.

http://money.cnn.com/2015/05/12/tec....html?iid=ob_homepage_tech_pool&iid=obnetwork

What do you guys think of this?

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

One of their competitors tried recruiting me awhile back, though I'm not really a "feelings"/therapy kind of guy, though the stock options were tempting! I also had ethical concerns and $ concerns (in regard to what the clinicians would make).

Assuming the validity and reliability are present (large assumptions), I'd still be concerned about the specificity of the approach. For the sub-clinical ppl it may be feasible, but how do they screen out more serious cases? I highly doubt higher risk/need cases will self-select out, so then it becomes a waiting game for an adverse outcome to present.

Investors are smart ppl, but answers to these questions may be different from the reality of this treatment approach. Just my 2 cents.

 

[WisNeuro]

Skeptical, haven't seen any good research about it. Also, kind of takes most of the common factors out of the equation, which has a decent effect size for change in some therapies. Also, similar to T4C, this could be a nightmare for SMI patients with suicidality. I wouldn't be surprised at some lawsuits in the future.

 

[Fan_of_Meehl]

http://money.cnn.com/2015/05/12/tec....html?iid=ob_homepage_tech_pool&iid=obnetwork

What do you guys think of this?

LMFAO

🙂

 

[MiniLop]

I love that the tagline is "Investors believe in the value of textual healing" as if investors were somehow an authority on healing. People will "believe" in anything if they think they can milk some money out of it.

 

[473912]

I love that the tagline is "Investors believe in the value of textual healing" as if investors were somehow an authority on healing. People will "believe" in anything if they think they can milk some money out of it.

I couldn't agree more. I've been in sleep medicine for over 10 years, and I've seen the steep decline and race to the bottom when it comes to diagnostics that are clinical and effective vs diagnostics that are cheap but way less effective and add so many more variables. I see sleep medicine being a sinking ship because of it, and it's really sad because the patients are the ones who'll suffer.

I don't have the same experience in psychology, but boy it sure does look similar. If things like this take off, maybe I should change majors before I accept this first student loan check... or at least tailor my experience to get in somewhere at the ground level.

 

[smalltownpsych]

I couldn't agree more. I've been in sleep medicine for over 10 years, and I've seen the steep decline and race to the bottom when it comes to diagnostics that are clinical and effective vs diagnostics that are cheap but way less effective and add so many more variables. I see sleep medicine being a sinking ship because of it, and it's really sad because the patients are the ones who'll suffer.

I don't have the same experience in psychology, but boy it sure does look similar. If things like this take off, maybe I should change majors before I accept this first student loan check... or at least tailor my experience to get in somewhere at the ground level.

Don't worry. People will pay for what works. Psychotherapy cannot be reduced to text messaging. If anything else, text messaging has increased the need for patients to have real life human interactions. We are social animals, our brains are designed to operate within a social context that is driven by voice modulation, facial expression, pupil dilation, scents, touch, proximity. Probably a few other variables that go into that.

How would this even work? I text the patient, "Do you have thoughts of suicide?" They text back, "Every f*n day" Hmmm. I wonder if I should hospitalize them. Are they serious or exaggerating for some reason? In the room, I have a few clues to rely on. Patient said it with certainty and emphasis or patient said it with a grin and a wink. Huge difference.

 

[psych844]

How would this even work? I text the patient, "Do you have thoughts of suicide?" They text back, "Every f*n day" Hmmm. I wonder if I should hospitalize them. Are they serious or exaggerating for some reason? In the room, I have a few clues to rely on. Patient said it with certainty and emphasis or patient said it with a grin and a wink. Huge difference.

What about the horrors of auto-correct?

 

[Fan_of_Meehl]

What about the horrors of auto-correct?

I'd give it about a day until some soon-to-be-unlicensed chianti drinking cybertherapist sends

 

[WisNeuro]

Don't worry. People will pay for what works.

People will pay for most anything, whether it works or not. Just look at most of the crap Oz peddles as a "miracle cure" with no or conflicting evidence. People will pay for the easy fix, whether it is a fix or not.

 

[Ollie123]

I'm actually somewhat optimistic about the integration of texting and other forms of electronic media into the therapy process....but that's a far cry from a pure-text system. This particular startup could well be garbage (and likely is since I think we're a long ways off from being able to do it effectively).

Where I think the technology comes in handy and where NIH seems to be funding things right now is hybrid models. GPS, accelerometers and other tools to identify high risk situations with a combination of automated and live interventions by trained professionals. Even then it would be a niche group for whom its appropriate. As always...academia is cautiously optimistic that 10 years from now it might be helpful....the market wants to get its millions now without a care for who gets hurt. We've seen this scenario play out a million times before.

 

[futureapppsy2]

There's some minor literature on text-based crisis/suicide hotlines, though I haven't (yet) reviewed it in detail. I think they have the potential to have real value, as texting is rapidly becoming the preferred communication mode over voice calls.

 

[473912]

Don't worry. People will pay for what works. Psychotherapy cannot be reduced to text messaging. If anything else, text messaging has increased the need for patients to have real life human interactions. We are social animals, our brains are designed to operate within a social context that is driven by voice modulation, facial expression, pupil dilation, scents, touch, proximity. Probably a few other variables that go into that.

How would this even work? I text the patient, "Do you have thoughts of suicide?" They text back, "Every f*n day" Hmmm. I wonder if I should hospitalize them. Are they serious or exaggerating for some reason? In the room, I have a few clues to rely on. Patient said it with certainty and emphasis or patient said it with a grin and a wink. Huge difference.

That placebo effect is a double edged sword, though. You get something that might work and less, but make them feel better but when it's not as effective as it should be, they relapse then you get the damning as well. Again, I don't know the field like you do I'm sure but people aren't researcher. They have no idea what works, only what makes them feel good. You're damned both ways. If it works and is positive, then it demeans more effective treatments. If it doesn't work in the long run, still makes us look bad.

...boy that sounds really pessimistic. Weird because I'm in a great mood. lol, but you get what I mean.

I'm more concerned with that becoming a BS cheaper options that insurance will push on the profession for cost/profit reasons.

 

[smalltownpsych]

Yes. People will always buy snake oil and a sucker is born every minute. That is why there is a proliferation of quasi part-time "I wanna be a therapist" types out there providing no better than placebo or worse treatment to the percent that can be easily duped. People don't need to know the research as well as we do to spot BS and in this business patient referrals is gold. Working in a small community, this is obvious. Ther are three providers who are always booked and can fill cancels with waiting list appointment and about 10 to 15 others who are losing their patients to us continually. "I went to so and so a few times and they were nice but I'm not sure they could help." Three months later after 10 to 12 sessions we are terminating and this patient sends others my way. I worked in real estate finance for a brief time and the same principles apply, I just wasn't very good at that job so I was quickly out of clients.