Stigma and Cybertherapy

Abstract

The present study was designed to shed light on whether people stigmatize individuals seeking cybertherapy less than they stigmatize those who seek traditional therapy. Using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk crowdsourcing service, 289 participants were recruited. Participants were presented with two vignettes in which “John” either sought therapy from a cybertherapy clinician or a traditional therapist. Participants then filled out two measures for each vignette intended to assess social distance and perceived discrimination. Two repeated measures ANOVAs showed that there were no significant differences between groups, indicating that this modality of therapy may be subject to the same stigmatization as traditional therapy. Future directions for research and implications for practice are discussed.