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Named a Top Psychology Professor to Follow on Twitter

by Erin Donohue

Deborah Serani, Psy.D., an adjunct professor at the听, was named one of the Top 50 Psychology Professors to follow on Twitter () by听. In her view, her passion for the social media outlet and the platform as a whole makes her a better clinician and professor.

鈥淚 love, love, love social media,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 exponentially faster, broader and more personal than traditional media in its ability to share information.鈥�

Although she enjoys the feel of a newspaper or academic journal, she is drawn to the quickness and real-time power of Twitter. The 140-character limitation is a test she revels in. 鈥淚 like the challenge of finding an interesting or humorous way to share research and psychology-related things in that short form,鈥� Dr. Serani said.

Dr. Serani鈥檚 recent book,听, has made her a go-to expert on youth with mental illness. So how does she marry her love of social media with its potential negative effects? 鈥淚 counsel adolescents鈥攁s well as adults鈥攖o question what they are looking for when they use social media,鈥� she said. 听鈥淚s it to feel connected?鈥�To gossip?鈥�To stroke your ego? Once they learn if and why it is valuable, I encourage them to establish a time frame for online use.鈥� Managing the amount of time you spend socially online is just as important as balancing your social life offline Dr. Serani advises. She often suggests a limit of one hour a day on social media.

Outside of writing books (she is finishing her third), having an active private practice and teaching the graduate course Psychodynamic Principles in Children and Adolescents at听, Dr. Serani is a technical advisor on mental health issues for television鈥檚听. The show writers present her with a script, and she lets them know if the idea is viable and believable and, most importantly, not stigmatizing for those who live with mental illness. Two of the episodes she consulted on were awarded Golden Psi Awards by the听. Fans of the show would recognize Dr. Serani as the Hon. D. Serani鈥攁 judge on the program. Recently, though, producers have recast the character with a male actor. 鈥淚t鈥檚 still a kick for me to see my name on the bench though,鈥� Dr. Serani said.