Technology Portals and NYTimes

By Dee Wagner, LPC, BC-DMT

I read this Sunday NYTimes article. Check it out with attention to the internet addiction part of the story.

In a webinar that Ray Barrett and I are developing for therapists, we differentiate between an internet portal that is like an umbilical chord/IV line and one that is like a viewing window. The window helps us keep our distance and our boundaries.

In the NYT article, a scammer preys on a regular guy's vulnerability. Fortunately, the guy talks about it with the authorities. Unfortunately, the authorities think he is delusional and/or a spy. As an author of a workbook for online daters, I can recognize his behavior as what we call Romance Trance.

Naked Online teaches us how to use a Sensation Scale and a Giving and Taking Scale to care well for our vulnerable selves which are like our inner kid selves. When we care for our kid selves, we are less likely to drift into Romance Trance and become prey for scammers!