Attachment‐based family therapy in the age of telehealth and COVID‐19

Abstract

The COVID‐19 pandemic has transformed so many aspects of our lives. For psychotherapists, telehealth is likely a permanent part of the future mental health landscape. For family therapists using a manualized treatment, this brings unique challenges and creative opportunities. In this article, we describe the adaptation of attachment‐based family therapy (ABFT) in the context of telehealth and COVID‐19. ABFT is an empirically supported treatment model designed for adolescents and young adults struggling with depression, anxiety, trauma, and suicide. ABFT is a semi‐structured, process‐oriented, and trauma‐informed family therapy model which presents its own unique challenges and benefits in telehealth environments. We present our adaptations based on years of telehealth clinical experience and address how this model supports the impact of COVID‐19 on families.

Late Adolescents’ Attachment to Parents and Peers and Psychological Distress Resulting from COVID-19. A Study on the Mediation Role of Alexithymia

“…Moreover, improving the quality of the parent-child relationship may promote more adaptive mental health responses in adolescents also through their positive effects on other protective factors commonly associated with the ability to cope with stress and pandemic, such as emotional regulation and alexithymia. To this end, attachment-based family therapy provided by telehealth services has shown their effectiveness in reducing adolescents' psychopathological symptoms [142], also in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic [143]. On the other hand, our findings have highlighted the key role played by the quality of relationships with peers in contrasting the sense of loneliness resulting from the COVID-19 related restrictions and promoting a positive adaptation to the pandemic [136].…”

Healthcare professionals' experience of performing digital care visits - a scoping review

“…Insight into patient's home environment (35,39,46,47,58) More frequent visits (47,50,57) Continuity of care (46,47) More personal visits (51) Visits can be intimate (59) Better than phone call consultations (13,56) Technical qualities…”

“…(51) Levy et al stated that in a therapeutic setting with a close-up video of the patient's face the session can be as intimate as in-person. (59) Being able to see the patient was one of the reasons for healthcare professionals' preference to digital care visits over phone consultations. (13,56) Interestingly, another new perspective brought by digital care visits which was not present in traditional visitsis a possibility to get insight into patient's home environment.…”

“…(44,60) Mental health professionals expressed it was di cult to deal with emotional situations in digital care visits. (46,50,59,60) Mainly due to being unable to properly see patients' body language and facial expressions and inability to use certain con ict management techniques from a distance. (46,50,59,60) Another concern regarding patient-professional relationship was digital care visits being less personal than face-toface visits.…”

Challenges to Learners in Interpreting Self as Other, Post COVID-19

“…Regarding psychological theories, there was only one that was referenced and it was identified from the perspective of work in adult education-self-directed learning. There are other psychological theories to understanding COVID-19 that might have been mentioned, including Terror Management Theory [213] and Attachment Theory [214]. As the concentration of both of these theories is to provide support for therapy rather than to be descriptive of the self-other distinction with regard to learning, they were not selected for inclusion.…”