Provision of Psychotherapy during the COVID-19 Pandemic among Czech, German and Slovak Psychotherapists

Abstract

<jats:p>Psychotherapists around the world are facing an unprecedented situation with the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). To combat the rapid spread of the virus, direct contact with others has to be avoided when possible. Therefore, remote psychotherapy provides a valuable option to continue mental health care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study investigated the fear of psychotherapists to become infected with COVID-19 during psychotherapy in personal contact and assessed how the provision of psychotherapy changed due to the COVID-19 situation and whether there were differences with regard to country and gender. Psychotherapists from three European countries: Czech Republic (CZ, n = 112), Germany (DE, n = 130) and Slovakia (SK, n = 96), with on average 77.8% female participants, completed an online survey. Participants rated the fear of COVID-19 infection during face-to-face psychotherapy and reported the number of patients treated on average per week (in personal contact, via telephone, via internet) during the COVID-19 situation as well as (retrospectively) in the months before. Fear of COVID-19 infection was highest in SK and lowest in DE (p &lt; 0.001) and was higher in female compared to male psychotherapists (p = 0.021). In all countries, the number of patients treated on average per week in personal contact decreased (p &lt; 0.001) and remote psychotherapies increased (p &lt; 0.001), with more patients being treated via internet than via telephone during the COVID-19 situation (p &lt; 0.001). Furthermore, female psychotherapists treated less patients in personal contact (p = 0.036), while they treated more patients via telephone than their male colleagues (p = 0.015). Overall, the total number of patients treated did not differ during COVID-19 from the months before (p = 0.133) and psychotherapy in personal contact remained the most common treatment modality. Results imply that the supply of mental health care could be maintained during COVID-19 and that changes in the provision of psychotherapy vary among countries and gender.</jats:p>

Psychotherapy During COVID-19: How the Clinical Practice of Italian Psychotherapists Changed During the Pandemic

“…A similar reduction in psychotherapy was observed in Austria, where a decline in face-to-face sessions was compensated by a reported increase in telepsychotherapy in the early weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown -even though the increase was not sufficient to cover the full proportion of interrupted treatments (Probst et al, 2020). On the contrary, a survey study conducted in the Czech Republic, Germany, and Slovakia did not observe psychotherapy dropout during the pandemic (Humer et al, 2020). Notably, the present study was conducted during the peak of the pandemic, after the Italian government imposed strong limitations on personal movement; in contrast, no curfews existed in the aforementioned survey study at the time of data collection (Humer et al, 2020).…”

“…On the contrary, a survey study conducted in the Czech Republic, Germany, and Slovakia did not observe psychotherapy dropout during the pandemic (Humer et al, 2020). Notably, the present study was conducted during the peak of the pandemic, after the Italian government imposed strong limitations on personal movement; in contrast, no curfews existed in the aforementioned survey study at the time of data collection (Humer et al, 2020). This mismatch in the study conditions substantially limits our ability to compare findings.…”

Being a Psychotherapist in Times of the Novel Coronavirus Disease: Stress-Level, Job Anxiety, and Fear of Coronavirus Disease Infection in More Than 1,500 Psychotherapists in Austria

“…Although providing psychotherapy via telephone or internet (teletherapy) is possible ( Whaibeh et al, 2020 ; Wright and Caudill, 2020 ), many state that face-to-face contact is an essential part of the therapy ( Connolly et al, 2020 ). Thus, the required reduction of face-to-face contacts might lead to a reduced number of patients ( Humer et al, 2020 ; Probst et al, 2020 ) as some reservations against teletherapy have been shown in psychotherapists ( Schuster et al, 2018 ) and the general population ( Apolinário-Hagen et al, 2018 ). This situation might reinforce distress and job anxiety in psychotherapists, especially in those not used to provide teletherapy.…”

The COVID-19 Crisis: Skills That Are Paramount to Build into Nursing Programs for Future Global Health Crisis

“…The qualitative overload was also high, due to a lack of knowledge and high uncertainty about the virus and routes of infection, treatments, and the severity of the effects and consequences [ 15 ]. There were severe emotional demands due to the fear of infection and concern about being a potential carrier of the virus to their own family [ 16 ], as well as demands in dealing with people who are dying [ 14 , 15 , 17 ]. The stress was exacerbated by a shortage of resources.…”