DeepSummary
In this podcast episode, Dr. Emma Bedor Hiland discusses her book 'Therapy Tech' which explores the digital transformation of mental healthcare. She shares her initial optimism about mental health technologies like smartphone apps and AI chatbots, thinking they could increase access to care. However, through her research, she realized these tools often prioritize profitability over truly improving accessibility, especially for marginalized communities.
Dr. Hiland highlights how mental health technologies can perpetuate discriminatory biases and 'prototypical whiteness' embedded within their design and marketing strategies. She also expresses concerns about the potential misuse of mental health data and 'psychosurveillance' for predictive purposes, which could lead to further stigmatization of mental illness.
While acknowledging the role technology can play in augmenting care, Dr. Hiland emphasizes the importance of investing in training human mental health professionals and building community-based support systems. She argues for a human-centered approach that maintains the ethic of care and recognizes the limitations of technological solutions in addressing the root causes of mental health crises.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Digital mental health technologies often prioritize profitability over truly improving accessibility, especially for marginalized communities.
- These technologies can perpetuate discriminatory biases and 'prototypical whiteness' embedded within their design and marketing strategies.
- There are concerns about the potential misuse of mental health data and 'psychosurveillance' for predictive purposes, which could further stigmatize mental illness.
- While technology can play a role in augmenting care, there is a need to invest in training human mental health professionals and building community-based support systems.
- A human-centered approach that maintains the ethic of care and recognizes the limitations of technological solutions is crucial in addressing the root causes of mental health crises.
- Mental health technologies should be part of a spectrum of care, not the sole solution, and should never be a prerequisite for accessing mental healthcare services.
- Communities themselves can often come up with effective solutions to address mental health challenges, rather than prescribing a one-size-fits-all approach.
- Raising consciousness about the potential losses of the human ethic of care in mental healthcare is an important goal, even as technologies continue to advance.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “So there I was, I was at the University of Minnesota, learning about research ethics, mental health and illness, still pursuing my interest in media and traditional media, film, tv, new media technologies, when I learned about a growing field of digital health technologies that were smartphone applications, and I learned that they claimed to improve the mental health of their users, and I was really optimistic and excited about them.“ by Doctor Emma Beadour Hyland
- “If my work can just help a community or a person to recognize that there are others like them who are concerned about potential losses of that ethic of care, which is again, a human ethic, then I think that my work really has done its job, which is to raise people's consciousness.“ by Doctor Emma Beadour Hyland
- “Now, the other thing that I wanted to make sure I mentioned in response to your question is that when I discussed with interviewees for the book the ways that they conceptualize the demographics of people who use mental health technologies, they hadn't put much thought into it.“ by Doctor Emma Beadour Hyland
- “And the problem becomes equating potentiality for violent acts or violence with mental illness. Because media have long played a role in perpetuating this myth that people with mental illnesses and mental disorders and who experience mental distress are more likely than the rest of us to behave in violent ways when we have the research that says that that isn't true.“ by Doctor Emma Beadour Hyland
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Episode Information
Green Dreamer: Seeding change towards collective healing, sustainability, regeneration
Kamea Chayne
11/30/21
What have been the shortcomings of the various technologies promising to make mental health care more accessible? And what does it mean to maintain a sense of humanity in our systems of care—in a world where therapeutic support of different forms is increasingly digitized?
In this episode, we welcome Emma Bedor Hiland, Ph.D., the author of Therapy Tech: The Digital Transformation of Mental Healthcare. As a feminist scholar, she brings an intersectional approach to analyses of the social and cultural effects of media and new technologies. Her work explores questions of what it means to live well, to be happy, and to pursue health.
The song featured in this episode is A Woman and The Universe by Lara Bello.
Green Dreamer is a community-supported podcast and multimedia journal exploring our paths to collective healing, ecological regeneration, and true abundance and wellness for all. Find our show notes, transcripts, and newsletter at GreenDreamer.com.
*Our episodes are minimally edited. Please view them as invitations to dive deeper into the resources and topics explored.