Nearly 25 years ago, Kate and I met online. Those were the days of listservs and Yahoo Groups and we had both joined the International Society for Mental Health Online (ISMHO). During conversation we discovered common ground, having both experienced support through the interwebs while we were homebound- she broke her ankle, and I had acquired a respiratory illness. In our efforts to make sense of working from home in the early days of the internet, we both discovered how powerful the internet could be to garner support through difficult times. Since we were both trained psychotherapists, we made that next leap, beginning to conceptualize online therapy. ISMHO was a place for those of us who dared. Within a few years we both served as presidents of the organization and had already begun collaborating on projects.
Kate came to the U.S. on several occasions, and much was accomplished on U.S. soil. Our first book, Therapy Online: A Practical Guide was literally written in my living room. We conceptualized and launched TILT Magazine and we wrote many articles, book chapters and curricula, sometimes sitting in the same room and often from across the pond communicating via chat, email, telephone and Skype. Kate’s husband Stephen cheered us on and we always welcomed his academic and editing prowess. We launched the Online Therapy Institute in 2008. We taught and presented across the globe, spreading the gospel of online therapy- from NYC to London, Australia, Africa and even Second Life. But mostly, we became dear friends. Besties. Our synergy was palpable.
We completed another writing project late last year. I didn’t know it would be our last. We co-wrote a chapter about numinous moments in online coaching to be published in an edited book. I turned in that book manuscript a week before Kate died. It is an appropriate topic for our final curtain call together as numinosity can be defined as awe-inspiring. And Kate was certainly that. I will miss my friend and academic muse.
~DeeAnna Nagel
