Online therapy in a shared reality: The novel coronavirus as a test case.

Abstract

When the novel coronavirus began to spread, many countries mandated lockdowns, quarantines, and social distancing, posing a threat to both clients and therapists and perhaps representing a "shared traumatic reality" (STR). Simultaneously, many mental health professionals moved to "online therapy," a mode that might increase the sense of having a shared reality. This study aimed to examine the extent to which therapists consider the pandemic an STR and the associations among helping professionals' sociodemographic and professional profiles, their perceptions of STR, their attitudes toward psychological online interventions (POI), and their satisfaction using such interventions. A total of 150 therapists completed an online Google Forms survey between April 17 and May 6, 2020, before therapists returned to their workplaces. The survey included questionnaires about STR and about attitudes toward and satisfaction with online therapy. Participants perceived the pandemic as an STR, particularly in the trauma dimension. The newly developed index of "shared concerns" showed that this perception was mainly a result of financial and health concerns. The satisfaction of using POI depended on participants' attitudes toward online therapy. The more experience therapists had, the less they perceived the current situation as an STR. This study, extending the theoretical concept of STR via the newly developed index, recommends that pandemics be included within the typology of shared traumatic events. Moreover, although positive attitudes toward online therapy are prevalent, young professionals require training to use POI for various traumatic situations.

Loss of Rituals, Boundaries, and Relationship: Patient Experiences of Transition to Telepsychotherapy Following the Onset of COVID-19 Pandemic

“…All the parallel losses experienced by patients and therapists can be seen as corollaries of the impossibility of co-presence of two bodies in the same therapy room and of restricted channels for implicit communication ( Brahnam, 2017 ; Lemma, 2017 ; Roesler, 2017 ; Nebbiosi and Federici, 2021 ). Furthermore, these similarities can be linked to the patients and the therapists sharing the same reality, uncertainties, and fears ( Escardó, 2021 ), the “shared trauma” of pandemic ( Nuttman-Shwartz and Shaul, 2021 ; Tosone, 2021 ).…”

“…Therapists with more online therapy experience, lower levels of self-doubt and anxiety, and those who experienced a strong online real relationship during the pandemic, or thought their patients viewed it positively, tended to be more accepting of video therapy. Likewise, a survey among 150 Israeli therapists ( Nuttman-Shwartz and Shaul, 2021 ) showed that the more experience therapists had, the less they perceived the current situation as a threat to both themselves and their patients (“shared traumatic reality”). According to a worldwide survey among 1,490 psychodynamic therapists ( Gordon et al, 2021 ), the therapist’s empathy, warmth, wisdom, and skillfulness, and the patient’s motivation, insightfulness, and level of functioning were considered as more important to effective psychotherapy than the differences between in-person and remote therapy.…”

The development of a self‐report scale to assess therapists' acceptance of telepsychotherapy

“…The physical distancing requirements in response to the spread of the COVID‐19 pandemic resulted in an en masse transition from in‐person psychotherapy to online psychotherapy delivered remotely. Online psychotherapy may reflect both synchronous and asynchronous online interventions, as well as online self‐help programs, and telepsychotherapy (Hanley & Wyatt, 2021; Machluf et al, 2021; Nadan et al, 2020; Nuttman‐Schwartz & Shaul, 2021).…”

“…Since the sudden transition to telepsychotherapy during the pandemic, additional concerns have been reported, including the lack of preparation and training in how to provide high‐quality telepsychotherapy, concerns about patient privacy, confidentiality, and technological glitches (e.g., Aafjes‐van Doorn et al, 2020; Békés, Aafjes‐van Doorn, Luo, et al, 2021; Feijt et al, 2020; Neven, 2020; Phillips et al, 2021). Initial studies have already investigated views and attitudes towards telepsychotherapy during the pandemic (e.g., Békés & Aafjes–van Doorn, Prout, et al, 2020; Maurya et al, 2020; Nuttman‐Shwartz & Shaul, 2021; Phillips et al, 2021). However, to our knowledge, there is no comprehensive measure that would assess therapists' acceptance of using videoconferencing technology for providing psychotherapy.…”

“…On the other hand, it is also possible that once the pandemic related restrictions have been lifted, telepsychotherapy might be seen as a less preferable, and less effective treatment option research conducted during the pandemic shows that even though therapists had a reasonably favorable experience with telepsychotherapy during the pandemic (Békés & Aafjes‐van Doorn, 2020; Humer et al, 2020) many therapists remain undecided or unlikely to continue using telepsychotherapy post‐pandemic (Békés & Aafjes‐van Doorn, 2020; Machluf et al, 2021). These studies found that age (Cioffi et al, 2020), clinical experience (Békés & Aafjes‐van Doorn, 2020; Nuttman‐Shwartz & Shaul, 2021) previous experience with using telepsychotherapy (Békés & Aafjes‐van Doorn, Prout, et al, 2020; Boldrini et al, 2020), experienced challenges (Békés, Aafjes‐van Doorn, Luo, et al, 2021; Békés, Aafjes‐van Doorn, Zilcha‐Mano, et al, 2021), number of telepsychotherapy patients treated (Korecka et al, 2020), and psychotherapy orientation (Humer et al, 2020) were prominent factors that were related to therapists' attitudes towards telepsychotherapy.…”