For The Professional: Help on Internet Addiction

We provide an array of educational resources on Internet Addiction for professionals from a wide variety of backgrounds.

Therapists can earn a Certificate in Internet Addiction Recovery through accredited home study courses. The certificate is composed of four courses worth 18 continuing education credits or courses can be taken individually. Dr. Young also provides onsite workshops for hospitals, clinics, and organizations and has written her newest book, Internet Addiction: A Handbook and Guide for Evaluation and Treatment published by John Wiley &Sons is the first empirically-driven book to outlines assessment and treatment strategies for practitioners.

Dr. Young is also personally available to provide clinical case consultation and supervision for therapists, psychologists, social workers, pastoral counselors, and other healthcare professionals. Given that Internet addiction is a relatively new and often unrecognized disorder, many therapists feel unprepared to properly assess and treat the problem. Dr. Young provides individual consultation with therapists to provide guidance on evaluation and recovery strategies unique to this client population. As the leading expert in the field, Dr. Young has a wide range of experience with the psychological, behavioral, and social problems related to the disorder. Consultation and supervision needs vary and sessions may be arranged on a case by case basis.

Addiction to online fantasy chat rooms and online child pornography from otherwise law-abiding persons in cases of online criminal misconduct have distressingly been on the rise as the availability of the Internet has grown. Research has confirmed that traditional notions about the type of person involved in illegal online activity frequently do not apply to such Internet utilization. Dr. Young’s research seeks to document the recently evolving phenomena and to provide insight in relation to it for use by treating professionals, academia, and the legal system. To assist the courts in achieving learned, accurate and just evaluation in such legal matters, she provides testimony, consultation, and assessments as they become presented with increasing frequency.

Employee Internet abuse accounts for 4 billion dollars in lost productivity. This raises new concerns for employers who also worry how such abuse will lead to decreased bandwidth, network slowdowns, lost data, and illegal Internet activities. Dr. Young provides on-site corporate seminars to train managers on how to incorporate effective Internet management practices to stop abuse and include sensitivity training for employees to help them recognize the early warning signs of Internet abuse and its potential for addiction. For further information, Dr. Young has written, Internet Addiction: Prevention and Education and Treating the Internet-addict Employee professional guides that outlines strategies to stop Internet abuse in the workplace.

Child Internet Safety is every parent’s concern. Parents watch as their children become absorbed in the computer for hours and worry about how cyber-predators and pedophiles now have access to them through online chat rooms. Statistics already show that 1 in 5 children are approached by a cyber-predator making child Internet safety a number one parental priority. Dr. Young teaches parents the warning signs of children who may be talking to online strangers and strategies for helping children recognize online pedophiles. The video also helps parents and school systems understand the impact of the Internet on children’s social and sexual development and outlines strategies for dealing with Internet-addicted children. For parents concerned about a son or daughter’s online gaming habits, Dr. Young has written, When Gaming Becomes an Obsession: Help for Parents and their Children Addicted to Online Gaming, an e-booklet that helps parents learn how to cope with a child addicted to multi-user role-playing games. The Parent-Child Internet Addiction Test will help you know if you are dealing with a child addicted to the Internet.