Ian Alger devoted his life to updating and enhancing therapy with technology. As early as 1965, when Sony came out with its reel-to-reel video recorder, Dr. Alger saw the potential of new technology to better help patients. Dr. Robert R. Rynearson relates in an interview with the New York Times the dramatic way in which Dr. Alger demonstrated that potential to him. While attending a workshop with Dr. Alger, he saw him trying to get a husband to understand the roots of his anger towards his wife. The husband, however, would not even admit that he had been angry with her during their group session. Dr. Alger ended this impasse by playing back a tape of the session; the anger was so evident in facial expressions right there on the screen that the husband finally acknowledged the emotion.

Dr. Alger’s innovation did not stop with video recorders; he became one of the pioneers of Internet-based teletherapy. He was part of the first Veterans’ Administration Satellite Telemedicine broadcast, and he published numerous journal articles analyzing the possible ways that teletherapy could enhance traditional therapy techniques.

While Dr. Alger is no longer with us, his ideas persist and continue to shape the development of therapy. If you are one of the increasing number of people getting support from home using the Internet, you may want to devote a moment of thanks to one of the pivotal figures who helped make such a thing possible.