Dissertation Defense: Kathleen O'Leary
You are cordially invited to join us for the Dissertation Defense of Kathleen O'Leary. Below, you will find the dissertation abstract and the Supervisory Committee.
Title: Designing Chat Guidance for Positive Psychological Change
Abstract: Mental illnesses like depression affect 25% of the U.S. population and are the leading cause of ill health worldwide — far above physical illnesses. In this talk, I introduce an online emotional support tool, called Chatback, that guides peers to use psychotherapy techniques in supportive chats to relieve distress. Chatback differs from prior approaches to online mental health care in scaffolding dialogue, rather than individual reflection in isolation or crowd work in the form of micro tasks. I demonstrate that online chat guidance can help peers to form supportive relationships through deeply insightful chats that promote positive changes in thoughts, feelings, and motivations.
Supervisory Committee:
Wanda Pratt (iSchool), Chair
Jacob Wobbrock (iSchool), Chair
Kristen Lindgren (Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences), Member
Stephen Schueller (Northwestern), Member
Sean Munson (Human Centered Design & Engineering), GSR