The Disinhibition Effect in Online Therapy

The following article is taken from our Online & Telephone Counselling course.

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The term disinhibition effect in online therapy was first coined by psychologist John Suler in his 2004 paper ‘The Online Disinhibition Effect’.

Suler explored six types of online disinhibition:

• dissociative anonymity (‘You don’t know me’)
• invisibility (‘You can’t see me’)
• asynchronicity (‘See you later’)
• solipsistic introjection (‘It’s all in my head’)
• dissociative imagination (‘It’s just a game’)
• minimisation of status and authority (‘Your rules don’t apply here’)

The term ‘disinhibition’ refers to a lack of restraint or disregard of social conventions. If a person is disinhibited, they may act without forethought and without regard to risk.

Online Disinhibition Effect Explained

The disinhibition effect is a psychological factor that can manifest itself in a remote therapeutic relationship.

Understanding online disinhibition and how to work with it is a vital part of online therapy training.

John Suler identified that some online counselling clients would self-disclose more readily and/or act out more often, or more intensely online than they would in a face to a face-to-face therapy session.

He recognised that premature disinhibition can lead the client to feel overwhelmed, foolish or anxious – or even create a black-hole effect where the client would fail to return for the next counselling session at all.

The disinhibition effect can bring about these feelings in online clients: it’s like the remoteness of the online world almost makes things feel less real, creating a kind of ‘bravery’ of being out of range.

Cyber disinhibition can feel liberating and even euphoric at the time, but it can also carry a price tag of regret, guilt, remorse or shame when the behaviour is looked at retrospectively – and leave an emotional scar that lasts a lifetime.

The Six Online Disinhibition Effect Types

Let’s explore the six online disinhibition types in more detail:

• dissociative anonymity (‘You don’t know me’)
• invisibility (‘You can’t see me’)
• asynchronicity (‘See you later’)
• solipsistic introjection (‘It’s all in my head’)
• dissociative imagination (‘It’s just a game’)
• minimisation of status and authority (‘Your rules don’t apply here’).

It’s like the remoteness of the online world almost makes things feel less real: it creates a kind of ‘bravery’ of being out of range.

We may need to control the speed of the client’s disclosure, gently slowing this down while we build trust and the therapeutic relationship. Rapid disclosure may be fuelled by clients believing that getting it ‘off their chest’ will in itself make them feel better – yet in reality doing so might leave them with shame.

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Responding to the Disinhibition Effect

As therapists, we may need to control the speed of the client’s disclosure, gently slowing this down while we build trust and the therapeutic relationship.

Rapid disclosure may be fuelled by clients believing that getting it ‘off their chest’ will in itself make them feel better – yet in reality doing so might leave them with shame.

We must also take care not to become more directive than we would usually be in our face-to-face work: doing so can be another product of the disinhibition effect.

In conclusion, the disinhibition effect makes it especially important to ensure that you have completed specific training for online counselling, and have regular clinical supervision with a supervisor who is themselves experienced in online working.