Isabel Sá

Designing for children: a fear therapy tool

Software for young children requires specific attention to a variety of details that range from the used metaphors, interaction modalities and even used language. These aspects gain further relevance when creating software for critical activities such as fear therapy, requiring specific approaches during the design process right from the start. This paper describes the design process of a set of software solutions for young childrens fear therapy using mobile devices. We address the used techniques, procedures and describe the resulting prototypes. Initial evaluation results and future work plans are also presented.

Geo-referenced collaborative psychotherapy: design and evaluation of a low-fidelity prototype

Social competency training, as part of psychotherapy, for children and teenagers, requires them to engage on outdoor activities in which they have to complete tasks such as talking to someone or visiting a specific place. Currently, the inability for therapists to monitor their patients, to promote collaborative efforts and to reinforce positive attitudes is a major issue that affects both the therapy process and its results. In this paper we present an evaluation experience of a mobile prototype for a geo-referenced collaborative system that supports in-situ group therapy. We describe the concept, our initial low-fi prototypes and the experiments that were undertaken to validate them. Initial results are discussed and future work is defined.

Children Psychotherapy with Mobile Devices

Computer Assisted Therapy is an applied and research field that has been rapidly evolving hand in hand with the advances of technology. In particular, the mass adoption of the internet and computers as tools to support several types of approaches has shown good results for a wide assortment of issues [1]. These technologies, primarily used to support therapists and clinicians while managing their records, accessing local or remote information [1][2], have more recently, and most importantly, been growingly used to serve patients as well, either independently or as a support for cooperation between patient and therapists. Amongst the existing examples, one can find simple registration (e.g., amount of cigarettes per day) diaries, short text-based tests or basic procedures and guidelines [3] or more advanced systems offering some support for personalization within the used tools [4] and data exchange between actors.

Ubiquitous geo-referenced social skills therapy

Outdoor activities are a major component of Social Competency Training, as part of psychotherapy, for children and teenagers. Goals such as talking to someone or visiting a specific place are set by a therapist and patients are required to complete them usually following a certain sequence. Currently, therapists are unable to control this process as the procedures are usually supported by paper artifacts and, most of the times, take place outside the office. This leads to the therapists inability to promote collaborative efforts and to reinforce positive attitudes, affecting both the therapy process and its results. In this paper we present a software system that relies on mobile devices to support geo-referenced collaborative in-situ group therapy. We describe the concept, the system and its features and discuss future work directions.

Evaluating a prototype for geo-referenced collaborative psychotherapy with mobile devices

Social competency training, as part of psychotherapy, for children and teenagers, requires them to engage on outdoor activities in which they have to complete tasks such as talking to someone or visiting a specific place. Currently, the inability for therapists to monitor their patients, to promote collaborative efforts and to reinforce positive attitudes is a major issue that affects both the therapy process and its results. In this paper we present an evaluation experience of a mobile prototype for a geo-referenced collaborative system that supports in-situ group therapy. The system aims to provide means for therapists to monitor their patients, their locations and achievements and includes communication mechanisms that facilitate cooperation between patients and therapist. We describe the concept behind the project, our initial low-fidelity prototypes and the experiments that were undertaken to validate them. Initial results are discussed and future work is defined.

Autorregulação da Motivação: Crenças e Estratégias de Alunos Portugueses do 7º ao 9º Ano de Escolaridade

A motivacao e um tema essencial quando se reflete sobre a aprendizagem e o sucesso escolar. A autorregulacao da motivacao na aprendizagem (AMA) e identificada como um aspeto fundamental das competencias de autorregulacao da aprendizagem. O processo de AMA inclui o metaconhecimento sobre a motivacao e as estrategias de regulacao da motivacao. Neste estudo, a Escala de Autorregulacao da Motivacao na Aprendizagem (EAMA) foi aplicada a 316 estudantes entre o 7o e o 9o ano de Escolaridade. Os resultados obtidos indicam que as expectativas de autoeficacia, o valor da tarefa e as metas de realizacao sao bons preditores do uso de estrategias de AMA. Foram encontradas diferencas entre os generos e o ano escolar na utilizacao de estrategias e nas crencas motivacionais.

In-Vivo Therapy Procedures: Design Process of a Geo-Referenced System

This paper presents the design process of a geo-referenced communication system which aims at providing technological support to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Social Competences and Skills Training therapeutic procedures. The usage of geo-spatial information while communicating between therapists and patients can be critical, particularly in in-vivo sessions, to identify locations which evoke negative experiences to patients or to encourage the latter to overcome obstacles. We show a high-fidelity prototype multi-iteration design process and complement the discussion with the results from an experimental period which aimed at assessing the system from a usability, user satisfaction and functionality perspectives. Results were positive and led to the revision and ultimately the final design iteration which is reported here. We present the rationale behind these design choices, discuss the advantages over existing similar tools, analyze possible challenges and comment on the fulfillment of providing seamless context to scenarios where such information is paramount.

A formação inicial de terapeutas infantis: o caso do Serviço de Atendimento Clínico da Faculdade de Psicologia da Universidade de Lisboa

The purposes of this paper are to: (a) describe the clinical service delivery by psychology post-graduate students (intervention modalities and clinical supervision); and (b) characterize children, adolescents, and parents that ask for help (according to gender, age group, educational level, presenting problems and referrals). We used a documented retrospective methodology through the analysis of clinical files. The data shows that in the last 8 years the clinic attended to 93 children and adolescents (61 boys and 32 girls), aging from 4 to 18 years old (M=11,3), presenting a wide range of behavioural and emotional problems, and the intervention processes are concluded between 1 and 29 sessions (M=12). We discuss how the analysis of this characterization has supported changes in the services and the advantages and limitations of this kind of clinic for the training of beginning therapist in a cognitive and behavioural modality.