Chicago, IL - The Chicago Psychology Group has announced the launch of an online community for mental health professionals, psychological researchers, and academic psychologists. This comes in response to widespread budget cuts which have decreased access to training sites for counselors and clinical psychologists. Even as the need for mental health services continues to grow, it has become more difficult for consumers to find necessary psychological treatments.
While the average person increasingly turns to the internet for help finding all types of products and services, the ability of psychotherapists to connect with consumers via the internet has not yet matured. This new site, http://ChicagoPsychology.org, provides a central platform for therapists to explain their services to the public.
The site also provides an opportunity for psychological professionals to network with their peers and potential employers. Mental health professionals operating under any specific treatment model can use the site to connect with like-minded practitioners and researchers. This creates an opportunity for increased coherence and quality of services from one treatment facility to the next. It also uniquely opens up the field for direct contact between psychologists and mental health professional at varying levels of experience.
ChicagoPsychology.org presents an outstanding opportunity for clinicians to connect with potential collaborators, employers, and clients. The site includes a growing list of interest-based groups. Users can grow their level of influence and name recognition within their area of expertise by posting original articles in the publicly-accessible group blogs. This allows clinicians to provide useful information directly to potential clients who are searching the web, while also providing them access to get in contact with the author. More information about the Chicago Psychology community blogs is at http://chicagopsychology.org/
Service providers and job seekers can also start their own free web pages on the Chicago Psychology web site, allowing them to publish information specific to their career phase. For example, a new psychologist seeking a job might post their curriculum vitae along with original articles describing training experiences, theories, and goals.
Psychology professionals who publicize themselves and their practice through the Chicago Psychology web site will also enjoy a very large advantage over those who opt to start their own separate web site. This is because they will be able to leverage the collective authority of the ChicagoPsychology.org site and all of its existing members.
