Research Institute
The Therapy Online Research Institute, established in 1998, exists to develop research projects, both internally and in collaboration with other institutions, that further our understanding of online counselling.
Current Research Projects
Some of our present research projects:
- Ongoing research into applications of pedagogical principles
to cybercounselling training
- We continually evaluate our training programs. This information results in improvements in the training programs themselves and leads to academic publications. See for example our 2008 publication in collaboration with Professor MacFadden of U of T noted below.
- Upcoming Self-Help Book Based in Narrative Therapy
- Lawrence Murphy is working on a book that will focus on using Narrative Therapy techniques that individuals can use to solve their own mental health challenges. Look for it in 2026!.
- Ongoing Work in Nigeria and Ghana
- We have recently pubished a chapter in a textbook on social work education in Africa with our colleague Cecilia Tutu-Danquah (see below) with more work on the way! We are also collaborating with colleagues in Nigeria on training and research.
Academic Publications
Tutu-Danquah, C., Sedofia, J., & Murphy, L. (in preparation). Determinants of clients’ continuous usage intention of cyber counselling services
Tutu-Danquah, C., & Murphy, L. (2024). Cyber counselling competencies: Implication for curriculum development and training for social work practitioners. In S. Levy, U.O. Okoye, P.T. Tanga, & R. Ingram (Eds.) Handbook of African Social Work Education (pp. 165-188). New York: Routledge.
Rivera, A., Law, S., & Murphy, L. (2023). Use of electronic and other technologies. In M.N. Sorsdahl, Borgen, R.A. & Borgen W.A. (Eds.) Ethics in a Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Context (pp. 179-195). Ottawa: CCPA.
Murphy, L. & Mitchell, D. (2016). The essentials of online clinical practice. In N. Gazzola, M. Buchana, O. Sutherland & S. Nuttgens (Eds.) Handbook of Counselling and Psychotherapy in Canada (pp. 323-339). Ottawa: CCPA.
Fang, L., Bogo, M., Mishna, F., Murphy, L.J., Gibson, M.F., Griffiths, V.J., & Regehr, G. (2013). Development and initial evaluation of the cyber-counseling objective structured clinical examination (COSCE). Research on Social Work Practice, 23, 81-94. Download.
Murphy, L.J., Mitchell, D.L., & Hallett, R. (2011). A comparison of client characteristics in cyber and in-person counseling. in B.K. Widerhold et al. (Eds) Annual Review of Cybertherapy and Telemedicine, Vol. 167, 149-153. Download.
Murphy, L.J., Parnass, P., Mitchell, D.L., O'Quinn, S. (2010). The emerging field of cybercounselling: Personal and professional reflections. Intervention, 132, 84-93. Download
Murphy, L.J., Parnass, P., Mitchell, D.L., Hallett, R.H., Cayley, P., & Seagram, S. (2009) Client satisfaction and outcome comparisons of online and face-to-face counselling methods. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 39, 627-640. Download
Murphy, L.J, & Mitchell, D.L. (2009) Overcoming the absence of tone and non-verbal elements of communication in text-based cybercounselling. In J.G. McDaniel (Ed) Advances in Information Technology and Communication in Health, Vol. 143, 215-219. IOS Press BV, Amsterdam. Download.
Murphy, L.J., MacFadden, R.J., & Mitchell, D.L. (2008) Cybercounseling online: The development of a University-based training program for e-mail counselling. Journal of Technology in Human Services, 26, 447-469. Download.
Mitchell, D. L. & Murphy, L. J. (2004) E-mail rules! Organizations and individuals creating ethical excellence in telemental-health. In J. Bloom & G. Walz (Eds.) Cybercounseling and Cyberlearning: An ENCORE. CAPS Press and American Counseling Association. Download.
Collie, K., Mitchell, D. L., & Murphy, L. J. (2000). E-mail Counseling: Skills for Maximum Impact. ERIC Digest.
Collie, K., Mitchell, D. & Murphy, L. (2000). Skills for on-line counseling: Maximum impact at minimum bandwidth. In J. W. Bloom & G. R.Walz (Eds.), Cybercounseling and cyberlearning: Strategies and resources for the millennium (pp. 219-236). Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association and ERIC/CASS. Download.
Mitchell, D. L. & Murphy, L. M. (1998). Confronting the challenges of therapy online: A pilot project. Proceedings of the Seventh National and Fifth International Conference on Information Technology and Community Health; Victoria, Canada [On-line]. Download.
Murphy, L. J. & Mitchell, D. L. (1998). When writing helps to heal: e-mail as therapy. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 26 (1), 21-32. Download.
Newsletter Publications
Schell, D. (2010). Being there. Crosscurrents: The Journal of Addiction and Mental Health, 13 (2), 16-17. Download
Mitchell, D. L. & Murphy, L. J. (2002). Ethics, e-mail, and the counselling profession. Cognica: the Canadian Counselling Association's Newsletter, 34 (2), 10-14. Download.
Mitchell, D. L. & Murphy, L. J. (1998). The practice of therapy online. Cognica: the Canadian Counselling Association's Newsletter, 30 (2), 5-6.
Blogs
Lawrence wrote an article for a Career Counselling blog on text-based work!Podcast
Lawrence was recently interviewed by Marco Campana on his Technology in Human Services Podcast! Listen to the interview here. Or more recently here!
(The Technology in Human Services podcast brings you ideas, initiatives and individuals doing interesting and unique things with technology in their human service work. Join Marco on a journey to figure it all out!)