Meeting the Practice Challenges of COVID-19: MSW Students’ Perceptions of E-Therapy and the Therapeutic Alliance

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a radical shift in social work practice. Overnight, social work intervention models provided in-person gave way to the utilization of Information and Communication Technologies to facilitate direct practice in virtual environments (e-therapy). Social work’s slow acceptance of e-therapy prior to the pandemic resulted in a lack of training for many social work practitioners and MSW student interns, who were required to make rapid transitions to using and operating in online environments. It appears likely that e-therapy will continue after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, so integrating education about effective e-therapy techniques into social work curricula seems like a logical next step. A social worker’s ability to establish the therapeutic alliance, which is at the heart of all helping relationships, will be central to this curricula. Understanding social work students’ perceptions of e-therapy and the therapeutic alliance can help shape the development of this new curriculum. Using internal student email, students at two Research I universities were invited to participate in a fully online anonymous survey dealing with attitudes towards e-therapy and the therapeutic alliance. Surveys were conducted in 2018 and April–May 2020. Survey questions were based on the only prior comprehensive study of student attitudes towards e-therapy (Finn in J Soc Work Educ 38(3), 403–419. 10.1080/10437797.2002.10779107, 2002 ). Study results indicate that students have e-therapy experience, believe that a practitioner can build a good therapeutic alliance, and think that some form of e-therapy will continue after the pandemic. These results confirm that further exploration about the inclusion of e-therapy education and its efficacy in social work curricula requires urgent attention.

Genetic counseling experiences at the University of Cape Town during COVID‐19

“…As experience was gained, it was found that psychosocial aspects could be addressed during these remote sessions. Khan experience (Earle & Freddolino, 2021;Phillip et al, 2020).…”

“…The paper provides insight into the lived experiences of The major shift in the provision of clinical services for the unit was the expansion of telecounseling and a reduction in face-toface counseling. Telecounseling is not a new concept in medicine and has been used since the 2000s in genetic counseling (Beretrich et al, 2018;Trepanier & Allain, 2014) and other fields such as spinal cord injury rehabilitation , managing depression , and social work (Earle & Freddolino, 2021). In genetic counseling, telecounseling services were first implemented in breast cancer but later expanded to include other areas (Trepanier & Allain, 2014).…”

“…However, previous research shows that, as is illustrated from many years of crisis hotline counseling, by using empathy, paralanguage cues, and intentional harmonization, levels of rapport experienced during telephone counseling can be similar to in-person interactions (Phillip et al, 2020). More recently in the field of social work, students reported that they can build a therapeutic alliance using electronic media they referred to as e-therapy in their work (Earle & Freddolino, 2021). Furthermore, implementing telecounseling models is shaped and influenced by resource availability, either within the work environment (e.g., access to virtual platforms, physical space, funding, and staff) or in training and coordinating of staff on site or at satellite clinics to facilitate blood draws or perform ultrasounds.…”

“…This may also be valuable in motivating for reimbursement, in expanding our services, and in acquiring additional resources. The concerns over building rapport and empathic connection should be investigated further by drawing on the work done in social work and crises hot line counseling (Earle & Freddolino, 2021;Phillip et al, 2020).…”

Coparenting autistic children during COVID-19: Emerging insights from practice

“…To adapt to COVID-19, social work researchers are investigating therapeutic alliances through telehealth (Craig et al, 2021;Earle and Freddolino, 2021;Swenson et al, 2021). In our practices, we have found this option to be beneficial for supporting families.…”