Page 25 - March April 2017 FTM

Will Your Cellphone Join Us Today?
Cell phones, tablets and watches. Collectively these tools create the fulcrum in which society centers its communication. I am a Pre-Clinical Fellow in one of the lower socioeconomic parts of town, or the west side as they
call it. I have worked with a number of clients from this community during my two-year tenure as a practicum student in my university’s community clinic.
I have become resourceful in my therapeutic interventions. I recall being in
the session room for the first time and looking up at a small sign with bold black letters—please turn off all cellphones. “Good luck with that,” I thought to myself, “people are glued to their devices.” Little did I know at this time, I would be an advocate for cell phone use in sessions. There is limited research regarding use of cellphones in counseling or therapy sessions. The focus lends itself to teletherapy outcomes and the push for internet-based access to counselors or psychologists. People make use of
digital devices more so than ever and rely on
them for common connections
(Lin & Peper, 2009).
Karla Caballero, MS
MARCH / APRIL 2017 23
Deriving a Therapeutic Intervention from Today’s Technology