The Internet Family: Technology in Couple and Family Relationships

"The Internet has reached a central place in interpersonal dynamics – and our personal lives are not exempt from this influence. Our children are growing with technologies unknown a decade ago, challenging the ways in which clinicians can help. Drs. Katherine Hertlein and Markie Twist are both scholars, but more importantly, they are both family therapists – and that shows in every single page of this book. Rather than focusing on lengthy theoretical debates, this book presents numerous examples and practical tools, and proposes frameworks readily usable by clinicians. To those interested in how the new technologies of communication are affecting human relationships, this text provides a set of maps to help navigate the waters of the Internet."

Matthieu J. Guitton, PhD, FRAI, Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Quebec City, Canada, and Editor-in-Chief of Computers in Human Behavior

"The new member of the family, technology, is getting older and agile; this member of the family moves fast like a chameleon embedding itself in the psychology of everyday life and the way couples and families do, feel, and think. This book is a must for clinicians trying to understand and map the ways technology and families intensify whatever is happening while also attending at the myriad ways in which we are changing. The book is packed with ways of thinking contextually and relationally about technology: how it can enrich relationships as well as push couples and families into new conundrums. The research in this area is still evolving and the book is ambitious at synthesizing for those that need the scientific and clinical evidence. For clinicians, the continuous synthesis, and the "aha moments" about how new media and emerging technology shape us all are everywhere in the book. The sections within the book are just a wonderful collection of the ways to reconstruct anew what families often see as unresolvable conundrums. I love the titles of the various sections and can see how they can help us all map a territory continuously changing. What may make us dizzy and what may also fascinate us is the rapid change. For some, then the need is to try to control the situation; our esteemed authors are calling for taking a curious journey rather than a set of guidelines to control the rather beautiful and sometimes threatening technological chameleon."

Gonzalo Bacigalupe, EdD, MPH, Professor, Department of Counseling and School Psychology, College of Education and Human Development, University of Massachusetts, Boston

"Perhaps no other factor has altered the family landscape in the 21st century more than the rise of technology. In this remarkable book, Katherine Hertlein and Markie Twist provide a comprehensive, empirically-based, and balanced synthesis of how technology has influenced couple and family interactions including parenting, communication patterns, and the development of intimate relationships. Moving beyond a mere description of dynamics, they offer a framework for working with families around issues related to technology as well as practical suggestions for navigating the terrain. Scholars and therapists will welcome this cutting edge volume on the intersection of families and technology."

Dale Hawley, PhD, Director, Marriage and Family Therapy Program and Professor for Human Development and Family Studies, University of Wisconsin-Stout

"The new member of the family, technology, is getting older and agile; this member of the family moves fast like a chameleon embedding itself in the psychology of everyday life and the way couples and families do, feel, and think. This book is a must for clinicians trying to understand and map the ways technology and families intensify whatever is happening while also attending at the myriad ways in which we are changing. The book is packed with ways of thinking contextually and relationally about technology: how it can enrich relationships as well as push couples and families into new conundrums. The research in this area is still evolving and the book is ambitious at synthesizing for those that need the scientific and clinical evidence. For clinicians, the continuous synthesis, and the "aha moments" about how new media and emerging technology shape us all are everywhere in the book. The sections within the book are just a wonderful collection of the ways to reconstruct anew what families often see as unresolvable conundrums. I love the titles of the various sections and can see how they can help us all map a territory continuously changing. What may make us dizzy and what may also fascinate us is the rapid change. For some, then the need is to try to control the situation; our esteemed authors are calling for taking a curious journey rather than a set of guidelines to control the rather beautiful and sometimes threatening technological chameleon."

Gonzalo Bacigalupe, EdD, MPH, Professor, Department of Counseling and School Psychology, College of Education and Human Development, University of Massachusetts, Boston

"The Internet has reached a central place in interpersonal dynamics – and our personal lives are not exempt from this influence. Our children are growing with technologies unknown a decade ago, challenging the ways in which clinicians can help. Drs. Katherine Hertlein and Markie Twist are both scholars, but more importantly, they are both family therapists – and that shows in every single page of this book. Rather than focusing on lengthy theoretical debates, this book presents numerous examples and practical tools, and proposes frameworks readily usable by clinicians. To those interested in how the new technologies of communication are affecting human relationships, this text provides a set of maps to help navigate the waters of the Internet."

Matthieu J. Guitton, PhD, FRAI, Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Quebec City, Canada, and Editor-in-Chief of Computers in Human Behavior

"Perhaps no other factor has altered the family landscape in the 21st century more than the rise of technology. In this remarkable book, Katherine Hertlein and Markie Twist provide a comprehensive, empirically-based, and balanced synthesis of how technology has influenced couple and family interactions including parenting, communication patterns, and the development of intimate relationships. Moving beyond a mere description of dynamics, they offer a framework for working with families around issues related to technology as well as practical suggestions for navigating the terrain. Scholars and therapists will welcome this cutting edge volume on the intersection of families and technology."

Dale Hawley, PhD, Director, Marriage and Family Therapy Program and Professor for Human Development and Family Studies, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Menonomie