Psychotherapist Mark Edwards, MFT San Rafael, California
Session Description: As the internet and communications technology have evolved, the amount of time people spend online has increased dramatically. Children and adults engage friends through social media and hours are spent in competition through casual and serious gaming. While clinical discussions have centered around the concept of "addiction", perhaps there are other causal factors and motivations to be addressed. This seminar will review current research on compulsive internet use in adolescents and adults, examine the question of internet addiction, the dynamics of computer gaming and explore the ways in which clinicians can gain insight into the personality dynamics and internal worlds of clients through their use of gaming and internet communications technology. Attendees will be presented with an alternate view of behavioral addictions, specifically the role of both obsessiveness and impulsiveness in the development of internet related psychopathology. Additionally, attendees will be presented with a typology of internet based games and the corresponding motivation and personality types of users. This information will enable clinicians to evaluate the underlying psychological concerns of adolescent and adult clients involved in video game play.
Learning Objectives:
After this activity participants should be able to
Describe current research into the nexus of video gaming and "big five" personality types.
Discuss the role of obsessiveness and impulsiveness in online gaming and internet related psychopathology.
Assess for indications of pathological internet use and comorbid Psychopathology.
