MY Counseling, Inc.    Mary weber-Young, Ph.D. 

    Licensed Professional Counselor

A dissertation abstract

        Postmodern philosophy provides a cogent framework for understanding Internet relating.  Postmodern theory focuses on the play of surfaces rather than depth, it supports multiplicity and ambiguity, rather than grand theories as a foundation for absolute truth.

        Narrative, a postmodern strategy, shapes our understanding of both individuals and the culture they inhabit by understanding individual truths or interpretations. Twelve interviewed subjects provided narratives about Internet relationships, and these were combined with other stories obtained ethnographically.  As a metaphoric story about the power of fantasy and human desires, I used The Neverending Story, (Ende, 1979) as a meta-narrative.  This was used to analyze the collective data and resulted in one interpretation to understand seeking relationships on the Internet. 

        The findings indicated that motivations both conscious and unconscious of the seeker, impacts the outcome of the relationship, as does aspects of the medium itself such as the anonymity it offers. 

        Findings also suggested a categorization of subjects into three typologies, which indicate how individual’s structure otherness.  The first, a developmental use, reflected participants who structure otherness more objectively.  They use the Internet as a transitional space and learn to ground their interactions in context outside of themselves. These subjects were developmentally enriched in the process.  The second typology is the Actor, afforded a stage by the technology of the Internet.  These subjects are in the middle of the developmental continuum.  After completing their interactions, they left the medium without attempting to integrate their experience into their offline worlds.  The final typology is represented by participants who became lost in their search.  These participants seek fulfillment of unlimited wishes on the Internet because they have difficulty distinguishing between Lacan’s symbolic and imaginary orders.  And because they structure otherness more subjectively, they are seeking an other that can best validate their subjective experience.

         Internet relationships go through stages of development similar to those developed offline and understanding these stages enables clinicians to build a therapeutic alliance that support’s their client’s working through of these stages.  Additionally, understanding the typologies enables clinicians with necessary tools for understanding what purpose the Internet relationship serves for their patients.

For more information regarding this dissertation, please Email me at mailto:mary@drmaryphd.com

Copyright © 2003 Mary Weber-Young Ph.D.
Modified 8-10-05