Internet Addiction: Evaluation and Treatment

A 6-hour course that will introduce students to key concepts and issues in treating the growing problem of Internet Addiction.  

Goals/Objectives

Over 120 million Americans are addicted to the Internet according to recent studies, and another 12 million are estimated to go online in the next year alone.  The popularity of the Internet has created a stir in the mental health community as professionals are seeing more and more cases of Internet addiction in their practice.  Given the newness of the disorder, therapists often feel unprepared to properly assess and treat the problem and often don’t understand how the Internet actually works.  This innovative course outlines how to diagnosis and evaluate this new kind of compulsive behavior. 

By taking in this Distance Learning Course the participant will learn how to:

  1. Differentiate compulsive from normal patterns of Internet use;
  2. Understand the risk factors and consequences associated with the development of Internet abuse among individuals;
  3. Assess for Internet addiction with specialized evaluation instruments;
  4. Design a comprehensive treatment plan for the Internet-addicted client.

Your Course Instructor:
Dr. Kimberly S. Young


Dr. Kimberly S. Young has been touted as "the world's foremost Cyberpsychologist" and is an internationally known researcher, author, and speaker on the impact of technology on human behavior. Dr. Young is a licensed psychologist and has testified regarding her pioneer research including the Child Online Protection Act Congressional Committee. She has published numerous articles about online behavior and authored Caught in the Net, a ground-breaking book on Internet addiction recovery, already translated in six languages, and her latest book, Tangled in the Web, which explores cybersex fantasy and its potential for addiction. Dr. Young serves as the executive director of the Center for Online Addiction and travels both domestically and abroad to conduct workshops on the treatment of cyber-related disorders. Her work has been featured in hundreds of newsprint publications worldwide including major articles in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes, The New York Times, Newsweek, and Time and she is a frequent media commentator for radio and television programs including NPR, the BBC, CNN, CNBC News, Fox News, Good Morning America, 20/20, The Leeza Show, and ABC’s World News Tonight. She has been an invited lecturer at over 16 colleges and universities regarding the impact of student Internet abuse and served as a keynote speaker for the First International Congress on Internet addiction held in Zurich.