Abstract
BackgroundThe current situation around the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures necessary to fight it are creating challenges for psychotherapists, who usually treat patients face-to-face with personal contact. The pandemic is accelerating the use of remote psychotherapy (ie, psychotherapy provided via telephone or the internet). However, some psychotherapists have expressed reservations regarding remote psychotherapy. As psychotherapists are the individuals who determine the frequency of use of remote psychotherapy, the potential of enabling mental health care during the COVID-19 pandemic in line with the protective measures to fight COVID-19 can be realized only if psychotherapists are willing to use remote psychotherapy.ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the experiences of psychotherapists with remote psychotherapy in the first weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown in Austria (between March 24 and April 1, 2020).MethodsAustrian psychotherapists were invited to take part in a web-based survey. The therapeutic orientations of the psychotherapists (behavioral, humanistic, psychodynamic, or systemic), their rating of the comparability of remote psychotherapy (web- or telephone-based) with face-to-face psychotherapy involving personal contact, and potential discrepancies between their actual experiences and previous expectations with remote psychotherapy were assessed. Data from 1162 psychotherapists practicing before and during the COVID-19 lockdown were analyzed.ResultsPsychotherapy conducted via telephone or the internet was reported to not be totally comparable to psychotherapy with personal contact (P<.001). Psychodynamic (P=.001) and humanistic (P=.005) therapists reported a higher comparability of telephone-based psychotherapy to in-person psychotherapy than behavioral therapists. Experiences with remote therapy (both web- and telephone-based) were more positive than previously expected (P<.001). Psychodynamic therapists reported more positive experiences with telephone-based psychotherapy than expected compared to behavioral (P=.03) and systemic (P=.002) therapists. In general, web-based psychotherapy was rated more positively (regarding comparability to psychotherapy with personal contact and experiences vs expectations) than telephone-based psychotherapy (P<.001); however, psychodynamic therapists reported their previous expectations to be equal to their actual experiences for both telephone- and web-based psychotherapy.ConclusionsPsychotherapists found their experiences with remote psychotherapy (ie, web- or telephone-based psychotherapy) to be better than expected but found that this mode was not totally comparable to face-to-face psychotherapy with personal contact. Especially, behavioral therapists were found to rate telephone-based psychotherapy less favorably than therapists with other theoretical backgrounds.
Highlights
BackgroundRemote psychotherapy, in which psychotherapy is provided from a distance, includes a broad range of technologies, encompassing the use of telephones, videoconferencing, and email [1]
Psychotherapists found their experiences with remote psychotherapy to be better than expected but found that this mode was not totally comparable to face-to-face psychotherapy with personal contact
Adequate mental health care is of high importance during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the provision of psychotherapy at a safe distance seems to be the obvious solution to ensure sufficient psychotherapeutic support
Summary
BackgroundRemote psychotherapy, in which psychotherapy is provided from a distance, includes a broad range of technologies, encompassing the use of telephones, videoconferencing, and email [1]. The current situation around the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures necessary to fight it have further accelerated the rapid expansion of the technology of remote psychotherapy [4] This is mainly because the traditional form of face-to-face psychotherapy conducted in person contrasts with the efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, including social distancing, isolation, and quarantine [5]. A recent review reported that the mental health problems related to quarantine include a high prevalence of psychological distress, depression, anxiety, and trauma-related disorders [6] This public health emergency is enhancing the necessity to provide mental health care while adhering to efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic [9,10,11]. As psychotherapists are the individuals who determine the frequency of use of remote psychotherapy, the potential of enabling mental health care during the COVID-19 pandemic in line with the protective measures to fight COVID-19 can be realized only if psychotherapists are willing to use remote psychotherapy
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