Because of the advent of computers, the world is taking leaps and bounds in the development of new innovations. Because of the advent of computers, the computer, and the Internet are being used in new and strange ways. This report covers such new innovations as cyber therapy, driving therapy over the Internet, and a new area of counter-culture, the counter-culture of cyberspace. At first, many people will have the same reaction that I had when coming into context with these topics. Especially as a psychology student, I felt that cybertherapy was impossible and ineffective. But through the course of writing this paper, I realized that cybertherapy is possible in limited situations. Hopefully, the reader will come up with the same conclusions that I came up with after reading this report.

What Tom Raymond says:
Tom Raymond has a webpage located at http://virtual-valley.com/traymond/. Through this webpage, he explains the "Participation Theory" and offers therapy through the Internet. Most of the therapy will take place over the telephone or email. Some points he makes that I agree with are the follows.

1. Raymond states that "The most difficult, and important, concept that Participation Theory asks us to consider is the notion that our abilities are specific to a particular context." This means that many things affect a person through out the day. The analogy that Raymond uses is that he maybe able to make free throw shots effortlessly at his basketball rim at home but shooting free throws at a NBA game would be a different story entirely. In the same way, the same task that we would do would be affect by the situational variable.
2. Raymond also states that "we must learn to recognize is the inner reality of our thoughts." A lot of these "thoughts" that one has about oneself is not accurate. These thoughts tend to mislead you and have just as much impact as something that actually happened to you. This is sort of like Adlers inferiority complex theory. Also it is similar to Freud's concept of the conscious and unconscious. It is similar in that just like in the Participation Theory, the thoughts from the unconscious affect your behavior just as much as thoughts from the conscious.

1. One thing that I do not agree with the Participation Theory is that fact that they believe that insanity is a learned behavior. This theory fails to take into account some of disorders such as schizophrenia, parkenson's disease and other organic based disorders. It should be pointed out that Participation Theory is not capable of dealing with these types of disorders, and probably out beyond the scope of cybertherapy altogether.
2. Another thing in which I do not find attractive is questionnaires. Every therapist more or less use a questionnaire in the course of therapy but I feel that this one is not adequate in finding all of the relevant information. Such broad questions as "Describe the nature of your difficulty" and "Describe your family of origin. . . any significant "emotional" problems they have had . . ." Most people would feel uncomfortable giving answers to a person they never met before in their lives, and these questions may not be relevant to the type of help they are seeking. Such a open ended questionnaire could not possibly give the therapist enough information to treat the patient.

What Interactive Home Therapy says:
The Interactive Home Therapy is a form of group therapy online over the Internet, though a form of email. What take place is that you type messages to your group, and the group and the therapist gives feedback on the message. Your messages will be screened for confidentiality by a computer, removing anything that may identify you to the group.

1. One idea that is attractive to me is the fact that the computer is a perfect "blank screen." This is the psychodynamic theory idea in which patients are removed from the influence of the therapist so that they can bring out their true selves without the therapist coloring their response. This is very important for such things as free association, projection, and transference, which is vital for therapy. The blank screen approach is the reason for the therapists couch, where the patient lies down, and the therapist is out of the patients line of view. These people believe that the computer screen is the perfect blank screen, in which the patient is completely removed from the influence of the therapist.
2. Another advantage of the Interactive Home Therapy is high level of anonymity and confidentiality that comes with therapy over the Internet. This is higher than the usual group therapy session because of the fact that you do not see the person's face or know the name of the person. This is good for many groups of people, such as:(quote)
   • People who must maintain a certain image such as politicians, clergy, doctors, and celebrities.
   • Athletes using steroids.
   • Police officers, immigrants, or similar groups with employment, racial or cultural issues.
   • People with AIDS or other potentially socially stigmatizing illnesses.
   • Any socially stigmatizing situations including many relationship, legal and sexual situations.(end quote)
   Because of the nature of the session, there is a high level of confidentiality which allows people to be more open and responsive to the therapy session.

1. In the way that the Interactive Home Therapy is setup, there is little accountability within the group. The primary function of group therapy is to discuss among your peers a specific problem within that group and is guided by a therapist, and also to carryout the treatment and to report back to the group your progress. The group and the therapist hold you accountable and follow-up your treatment. Because there is no face to face contact, the accountability issue is neglected. Also according to the guideline, people are allowed to stop participating in the group therapy at their convince. This minimizes the degree of commitment to the group, allowing people to drop out of their group when the going gets tough, and not receive complete treatment.
2. There also is disagreement to the fact that "written language on computers allows unparalleled detail and precision for optimal cognitive analysis." During a therapy session, one of the important features is the ability to pick up on the reactions to your response. Subtle body language gives you encouragement, guidance, moral support and rebuke. It is a well known fact that 80% of communication is non-verbal. The written language, focuses only on the verbal side of communication, and in itself, is different with the spoken language (you don't write like you speak). Even with the fast development of cyberculture, it is still difficult to convey emotions over the Internet. In other words Smileys (emoticon) don't cut it. ;)

In conclusion, this brief look at types of cybertherapy we can conclude several things. For one thing, therapy encompasses a range of problems ranging from minor adjustment disorders to full blown disorders with an organic bases. Cybertherapy is suitable in dealing with minor disorders which do not require any kind of diagnostic tests. The best that cybertherapy can do is administer advice and hope that the patient will follow them exactly and come back for more. Adjustment disorder and family and marriage therapy are within the scope of cybertherapy, but nothing more serious. As for group therapy, some things that are lacking is the commitment to the group and the lack of accountability. But in dealing with these problems (maybe full motion video conference) the advantages of cyber group therapy, which is anonymity will be lost.

The Driving Therapist:
In "The Driving Therapist," the main advice that the therapist gives to the driver is to reduce stress of driving by creating a pleasant environment and self-monitoring. The Driving Therapist also concentrates on proper driving techniques such as how to execute a proper lane change and where to focus your eyes on the road. Self-monitoring comes from breathing techniques, and other method of stress control.

The first idea that I find attractive is the idea people should improve their driving skills. Through the page, The Driving Therapist offers advice such as looking down the road instead of focusing right off your hood, the "SMOG" (Signal, Mirror, look Over your shoulder & Go) principle when you are lane changing, and speeding up when merging onto the highway. If people learned to drive properly, then they will reduce the stress of driving, and this will enable them to have a more pleasant driving experience. If they make less mistakes, they will not have such a frustrating time when driving.

The BNT concept: This concept, BNT, stands for "Be in the Now". The Driving Therapist believes that stress and anxiety comes from focusing too much on the past or worrying to much about the future. The Driving Therapist feels that people should focus on the immediate task, something that can be done now, instead of worrying about things that you have no control over. He states that instead of worrying about something that you have no control over, focus on your breathing. If the body receives enough oxygen, then that will reduce stress.

To much emphasis on affirmations: The Driving Therapist, Sy Cohn, puts to much emphasis on such things as affirmations and developing a positive experience. While this maybe a small part of driving therapy, it should not be the main focus of the therapy. Cohn suggests to create a "Survival Kit" for when you drive. Instead of having important things such as a spare tire, coolant, no fault auto insurance or a cellular phone for emergencies, Cohn suggests that you include such things as bottled water, nuts and other foods that contains salt, stuffed animals, pictures and stuffed animals, etc. While this may create a pleasant driving experience and reduce some stress, cluttering the car with such distractions create an unsafe driving experience for you and can distract you from the task at hand... driving the car. Plus if a person has a fear of driving (as many people have) simple "Easy does it" and looking at some pictures will not help that person overcome the person's fears of driving or improve their driving skills.

Dr. Driving says:
Dr. Leon James otherwise known as Dr. Driving, has created a webpage based on his research and books that he has written about how people can become more rational drivers. Dr. Driving states that "since society doesn't train drivers for emotional control, a culture of aggressiveness in traffic has evolved." Dr. Driving has a Three Step Program to help people become more healthy drivers by teaching emotional self-control to drivers. This includes 1) Working on your feelings or in other words "committing yourself" 2) Working on your thoughts by doing a self witnessing inventory and 3) Working on your actions by applying various self modification techniques. All of these techniques are clearly explained in Dr. Driving's book Inner Power at the Wheel which is written by Dr. James and Dr. Diane Nahl. Dr. James has done serious research on this topic, and the results of this research can be seen in the paper "Data on the Private World of the Driver in Traffic: Affective, Cognitive, and Sensorimotor" and through the works of the Psy 459 class.

Dr. Driving states in "Data on the Private World" that there is three parts to a driver, the cognitive self, the affective part, and the sensorimotor self. Dr. Driving states that all three of these domains are interrelated and that they affect the driver. Through the self-witnessing reports, one can see how these three aspects would interrelate. Dr. Driving breaks down the mind into these three parts and shows how each part of the mind interrelate with one another. This can be related to some of the points made in Report 1 where I covered the connection of cyberspace and the mind.

The idea of self witnessing also appeals to me. Self-witnessing is a way of "systematically observing your thoughts and feelings while driving." Dr. Driving states that "self-witnessing begins the process of building your own inventory of your feelings, thoughts, and actions in traffic." By recording what you are feeling and thinking while driving allows you to actively participate in making yourself a better driver. By recording your reactions, you cannot deny that you were angry when a certain event happened or feeling stress when another event happened. Also it allows you to record the progress that you made through out your "driving makeover."

One thing that Dr. Driving does is that he picks on people who, according to him, "speed." In Chapter 6 of his book, he lists the zones of a persons driving personality. He lists as attitude problems that people have, that people do not respect the speed limit. He states that "If you routinely break the speed limit whenever its convenient, you have little respect for legitimate authority." This is faulty thinking in itself, especially when it is regarded as a good driving habit to keep with the flow of traffic. Also regulations are setup as a way of making money for the government. On a final note, when the federal government gave up the control of setting speed limits on highways, the state government raised most of the speed limits 10 to 15 mph (Montana's speed limit for the highways is whatever you think is "reasonable and prudent"). This shows that governments have other reasons setting speed limits, not just for the safety of the people on the road. Another thing that did not appeal to me was that fact that Dr. Driving did not emphasize value of maintaining a person's driving skills. If one improves driving education of a driver, it would be the best therapy of all, for this will reduce the anxiety of a person driving and a good driver will reduce the stress of fellow drivers.

In conclusion, both Dr. Driving and the Driving Therapist have good points when it comes to driving therapy. I have not had a chance to listen to Mr. Cohn's therapy tapes so I am not sure how effective they are. Dr. Driving has some good ideas, and seem to have strong psychological backing. As a driver, I enjoy driving. I also try to maintain my skills as a driver and try to drive as safe as possible. But reading these two webpages has made me more aware of my driving actions and remind me to practice a little self-monitoring.

Steve Mizrach aka Seeker 1, writes an article called "Technology and Transgression". Here, Mizrach explores the how people use technology to rebel against authorities, not just people who do not agree with their lifestyle but those who seek to control and regulate the very technology that these people use. Mizrach describes this rebellion sort of like that of jujitsu or aikido, where the a person used his opponents strength or attack against his ownself. It is important to point out that technology always fostered communication, and so what many of these technological transgressors are fighting for the freedom to express there ideas. I would also like to point out that many of us are unknowingly part of some of these groups.

The first group of technological transgressors that was covered by Mizrach is the "Radio Underground." These include scanner freaks, pirate/micropower radio broadcasters, and clandestine listeners. What these people (scanner freaks and clandestine listeners) do is that they use devices such as scanners to listen in on radio frequencies that they are not suppose to listen in on. While the act of listening to stuff off the air is not illegal, listening to certain frequencies, such as those occupied by cell phones and cordless phones, are. Most of these people who engage in these kinds of activities are harmless, except for a few that try to get credit card numbers and other such vital information. The fact is that many people own scanner, and they don't even know about it. There is a new "radar detector" out on the market that does not search for a the signals of a radar gun but what it really is is a scanner that picks up certain police radio frequencies. When they detect these radio frequencies, the scanner alerts the driver, telling the driver that a police cruiser is near by and to be on the look out. Other people who use scanners to listen to police radio and other such frequencies are people who crave information, sort of like people who are addicted to the 24 hour news station or the Weather Channel. Pirate radio stations, which are radio stations that broadcast on illegally has been receiving attention from the media over the past 10 years. There was even a successful movie released called "Pump Up the Volume" which featured Christian Slater as a pirate radio station DJ.

The computer underground is the next topic that Mizrach tackled. These people include hackers, virologists, phreaks, and cryptoanarchists. Hackers are people who believe that information should be free for all who wants to access it. A large part of this is the distribution of licensed software for free over the Internet. What hackers do is go around copy protection (something the publisher includes to make illegal copying of the software difficult) and distribute it to people who want it. Why would they do this you may ask. They do this for several reasons. One reason is the challenge. Some hackers go to extreme measures, such as breaking into the software publishers computer network, stealing the program, and getting out without being traced. This is very difficult with all the safety measures that are put up in the networks. The next reason is the need for software. Software companies tend to release software too soon, too fast, and most times, they have not worked out the bugs (errors). Therefore, hackers are driven to get the latest software, which tend to work better.

Musical Transgressors are people who break the musical norm using electronics of some sorts. Some types of music are Techno, Industrial Music, Punk, and Hiphop (or I think, Rap). Mizrach states that "music -as-social-transgressor goes back to rock n' roll." Rock was created when such people as Elvis Presly, and Chuck Berry created music that appealed to both the African-American community and Caucasian community, something that was unheard of before. It was a fusion between R&B and Country/Western. Of course, rock n' roll was not possible without electronic amplification and distortion. Nor was later rock music not possible without electronic mixing, in which a sound engineer would balance the sound to make everything sound right. Also with the use of electronics, the boundaries of music is even expanded, for example, rap music, which uses samples of other songs and creates its own music. Other music such as rave and techno is created purely thorough electronics, with no instruments involved. These people rebel against society and musical norms by stretching the definition of music. These specific examples use technology to do it.

In Report 1 I covered the connection of Cyberspace and the mind. I stated that cyberspace is like the extension of media, where you add functions of interactively to such traditional forms of media like text, video and sound. With hypertext links, you can connect these media together and bring them up at a click of a mouse.

In Report 1, I explored the what virtual reality was and how it related to the mind. In Report 2, we see some of the uses of virtual reality over the Internet. We see the use of virtual reality through the use of various therapy that is offered over the Internet. Traditionally, therapy is used to offer help in one form or another. Therapy is based on interactively. Virtual reality is also based on interactively. Just as there are many forms of therapy offered through many forms of media, cyberspace can enhance all of those forms of media. For example, just as there are therapy in the form of newspaper columns, the use of virtual reality can enhance it by maybe having links to other related articles and such.

While writing these two reports, I seemed have solidified my understanding of the connection between cyberspace in the mind. The first report created the connection between these two things and the second report gave clear examples on how cyberspace and the mind are connected. Also writing these two reports brought up the future of cyberspace and virtual reality. With more people using cyberspace and virtual reality, information will be more accessible to people. With people like those discussed in technological transgressors section pushing the limit on the accessibility of the technology. Dr. James stated in class that with all of this information being digitized, information is indestructible. With all of this technology available at very fast speeds, humankind may be going into a new era of history.