Cybersecurity and child and family psychotherapy are concepts that are more related than ever. Being a victim of a cyberattack can lead to a situation of distress and unease that is difficult to imagine. Sometimes we find that the clients we help require psychological support in parallel with the entire process we execute at onBRANDING to resolve their case.

Psychological support as part of the process.

The situations that lead to the need for this support are numerous:

• minors who suffer harassment on social media.
• adolescents who suffer severe cases of cyberbullying.
• individuals who have been victims of cyber scams, extortion, sextortion, etc.

Not only minors need psychological support. Sometimes, parents also require professional assistance to overcome the suffering generated by these situations.

Furthermore, at onBRANDING and the Carl Rogers Institute, we are detecting cases that are affecting the development of minors’ self-esteem. This can have serious consequences when they reach adulthood.

In the following video, Selva Orejón, Executive Director of onBRANDING, and Zenaida Aguilar, from the Child, Adolescent, and Family Therapy area at the Carl Rogers Institute, explain the concepts of Cybersecurity and child psychotherapy.

Selva and Zenaida discuss the most important points to address from the families’ perspective regarding the use of technology and the prevention of abuse or cyber risks:

Both parents and guardians must be guided to prevent them from making decisions that could further harm the minor or adolescent who is already experiencing a difficult situation.

Additionally, the family must remain continuously alert to the consumption of digital content by minors:

• 
  Between 4% and 10% of minors are addicted to new technologies and mobile devices.
• 57% of minors are experiencing isolation due to the situation generated by the pandemic. This leads to even greater consumption of digital content and mobile devices.

To prevent issues in Cybersecurity and child psychotherapy, it is important to understand the risks we face, as well as basic prevention measures.

Beware of Sharenting

A large proportion of parents have adopted the use of technology and social media late. This leads to inappropriate behaviors or a lack of knowledge about risks and security measures, and the importance of protecting privacy.

Where might your children’s photos end up being published?

We must know how to alert minors, but parents must acquire knowledge and awareness about their own use of social media.

57% of women suffer harassment on social media

Social media platforms have sufficient capacity through their Artificial Intelligence systems to censor photographs, detect comments of a certain nature, etc. However, when we face situations of harassment, especially towards women and young people, the cooperation that could be expected from the platforms is often lacking.

It is necessary to understand the risks we face and the possible measures to take to minimize the impact of a potential cyberattack or social media harassment.

In our post on celebrity harassment, we delve into this issue.

Other forms of leisure are possible

The situation caused by the pandemic has increased the exposure time of minors and entire families to mobile devices. It is necessary to provide children with alternative leisure activities so that they find ways in their free time to reconnect with the offline world, and relaunch interpersonal communication, as well as creativity and the ability to generate thoughts internally and individually.

If the goal is to get minors to focus their attention on non-digital activities and relationships, we must provide them with support and alternatives that prevent them from ‘missing’ technology.

At onBRANDING, we specialize in digital surveillance, privacy, cybersecurity, social media, and cases where cybersecurity affects the reputation of brands and individuals.

The Carl Rogers Institute is the reference center for the integral Person-Centered Approach, offering training in Psychotherapy and Counselling for Psychologists, Doctors, and other helping professionals.

If you believe you need to resolve a serious situation generated by the use of technology or social media, contact us and we will help you.