ABSTRACT
Digital technology, the Internet, home computers and portable digital devices have become everyday features of our lives. Almost all adults in the UK are internet users (ONS, Office for National Statistics, 2018), accessing it on our personal computers, tablet computers, smartphones, and wearable digital devices. Education, shopping, entertainment, banking, and health and social care are now reliant on this technology. It has opened up a 24/7 culture of constant connectivity and instant access to an infinite amount of information. A report of attitudes and usages of digital media in Britain found most adults valued the Internet as a way of maintaining their personal relationships, although they also recognised its disruptive impact on face-to face communications (OfCom, 2018). For example, the widespread practice of snubbing others in favour of our mobile phones has added a new word ‘phubbing’ to the growing lexicon of new terms to describe our digital behaviours. There is an increasing trend towards accessing the Internet on smartphones on the move, not only at home or work. This connectivity has its benefits but there are risks. Using the internet can lead to feelings of being overwhelmed, addictive behaviours, cyber-bullying, exploitation, anxieties related to technology, and the distribution of false, misleading or harmful information. These negative consequences of technology are likely to enter the art therapy room; either because the patient is seeking help to manage technology’s impact on their lives, or as a disturbing intrusion and disruption to the boundaries of the therapeutic relationship. Thus, promoting critical thinking skills to support our patients’ ‘technoWellness’ (Kennedy, 2014) is now considered an aspect of the art therapist’s remit in the 21st century.
