Journaling and eTherapy for Compulsive Picking

In the Internet Age, with the popularity of email, instant messaging and blogging — writing has once again become a major mode of inter-personal communication. Though some old fogies still lament the loss of the paper-and-pen letter writing — the fact is that the internet makes writing and collaborating easier and more seamless.

This trend is also catching on in the therapeutic treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorders such as compulsive skin and finger picking. Writing Therapy is as old as Freud — but its now undergoing a resurgence thanks to remote, over-the-internet exchanges between patients and mental health professionals.

So-called “eTherapy” is a sort of private blogging, but with a coach whose job is to provide personalized feedback to help you understand root causes of anxiety or stress that is driving you to your compulsive picking behavior.

Benefits of eTherapy over traditional psychotherapy

• Convenience — eTherapy is convenient for several reasons:
  • Since eTherapy is not done in real-time it can be fit into small windows of free time in an otherwise hectic schedule
  • It is convenient for disabled or elderly patients unable to travel easily
  • It enables more consumer choice for patients, who are able to work with a practitioner anywhere in the world, provided they speak the same language
• Anonymity — many patients who choose eTherapy to work out their disorders would never seek out in-person treatment out of shame or simple shyness. eTherapy is anonymous and impersonal — in a good way.