MAHEU, Marlene M. 1954-

PERSONAL:

Born June 1, 1954. Education: California School of Professional Psychology, Ph.D., 1985.

ADDRESSES:

Office—106 Thorn St., San Diego, CA 92103. E-mail—drm@telehealth.net.

CAREER:

Psychologist and author. Psychologist in private practice, San Diego, CA, 1986—; Nicotine Recovery Institute, San Diego, director, 1985-96; Pioneer Development Resources, Inc., Reno, NV, president and CEO, 1996—. Selfhelp Magazine (online), founder and editor-in-chief, 1994—. Developer and manager of TelehealthNet Web site. Speaker and management consultant.

MEMBER:

American Psychological Association, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, American Telemedicine Association, California Psychological Association.

WRITINGS:

(With Pamela Whitten and Ace Allen) E-Health, Tele-health, and Telemedicine: A Guide to Start-up and Success, Jossey-Bass (San Francisco, CA), 2001.

(With Rona B. Subotnik) Infidelity on the Internet: Virtual Relationships and Real Betrayal, Source-books (Napierville, IL), 2001.

(With others) The Mental Health Professional and the New Technologies: A Handbook for Practice Today, Lawrence Erlbaum (Mahwah, NJ), 2004.

Contributor to journals, including Behavior Therapist, Behavioral Psychology, California Psychologist, Independent Practitioner, Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy, National Psychologist, San Diego Psychologist, Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity, and Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. Consulting editor, Professional Psychology, 1991—.

SIDELIGHTS:

Marlene M. Maheu is a psychologist in private practice, as well as the founder and editor-in-chief of Selfhelp Magazine, an Internet publication that is read by both professionals and the general public. She is also the developer and overseer of TelehealthNet, a Web site that connects users to numerous articles and other resources for those in the e-health business. With her high level of involvement in the Internet, it is not surprising that Maheu would pursue connections between the proliferation of online communication in mental health, a study that has produced Infidelity on the Internet: Virtual Relationships and Real Betrayal.

Written with colleague Rona B. Subotnik, Infidelity on the Internet address the role of the home computer in marriage stress brought on by e-mail chats, the development of cyber-relationships, and accessing pornography. Citing many actual examples, Maheu and Subotnik also include checklists and quizzes, to help readers identify feelings and move toward resolving their relationship issues. As Jeanne Larkins noted in her Library Journal review, the coauthors stress "the importance of communication, the pain caused by any form of cheating, the attraction of cybersex, and the path toward healing." In addressing themselves to the thousands of Web surfers who reportedly engage in cyberspace affairs, the authors take a "zero tolerance" position, according to a Publishers Weekly reviewer, who went on to note that "their argument that cyberinfidelity is often damaging and addictive is convincing."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 15, 2001, Mary Carroll, review of Infidelity on the Internet: Virtual Relationships and Real Betrayal, p. 528.

Hospital Topics, spring, 2001, Dennis S. Palkon, review of E-Health, Telehealth, and Telemedicine: A Guide to Start-up and Success, p. 37.

Library Journal, October 1, 2001, Jeanne Larkins, review of Infidelity on the Internet, p. 128.

Publishers Weekly, August 13, 2001, review of Infidelity on the Internet, p. 250; October 22, 2001, review of Infidelity on the Internet, p. 66.

ONLINE

Marlene M. Maheu Web site,http://www.drmarlenemaheu.com/ (January 28, 2004).*