Psychoanalytic psychotherapy and its supervision via videoconference: experience, questions and dilemmas*

De la psychanalyse à la psychothérapie psychodynamique à Albert-Prévost

“…Au-delà des guides d'autosoins, de plus en plus de suivis psychothérapeutiques formels et de supervision s'effectuent à distance, via de nouvelles plateformes d'échanges virtuels qui facilitent l'accessibilité et permettent d'éviter les discontinuités dans les suivis : par exemple, si un patient doit s'absenter pour un séjour à l'étranger. Si elles comportent des avantages indéniables, ces nouvelles modalités d'échanges « 2D » soulèvent aussi de multiples questions concernant la confidentialité, les indications, les modifications potentielles du transfert qu'elles entraînent ou encore les nouvelles formes de résistances qu'elles sollicitent (Juhos, 2019). Certains travaux semblent toutefois montrer que l'essentiel du processus analytique pourrait néanmoins être préservé grâce à l'activation des neurones miroirs, entre autres, qui pallieraient l'absence de certaines modalités perceptuelles inhérentes au caractère « virtuel » de la relation (Merchant, 2016).…”

Long‐term psychodynamic psychotherapy in a face‐to‐face versus videoconferencing setting: A single case study

“…The internet offers a highly promising opportunity to cross barriers to deliver psychotherapy (e.g., stigmatization, lack of mental health‐care specialists in rural areas, physical disability, constraints of time and money, or a pandemic situation; Scharff, 2012 ). On the other hand, internet‐delivered psychotherapy also requires certain preconditions, such as the availability of internet access with high‐quality broadband service and a private place for both the therapist and the patient (Juhos & Meszaros, 2019 ). Furthermore, communications via the internet must be secure (Scharff, 2012 ).…”

“…There is a lively discussion, especially in the psychodynamic–psychoanalytic community, on whether tele‐based treatments are suitable to deliver this kind of psychotherapy (Juhos & Meszaros, 2019 ; Merchant, 2016 ). The discussion focuses mainly on the differences between personal and video/computer‐based contact.…”

“…To date, only a few studies on psychodynamic psychotherapy via the internet exist (Johansson et al, 2012 ). Most of the recent studies are case reports (Ehrlich, 2019 ; Gutiérrez, 2017 ; Juhos & Meszaros, 2019 ) or evaluations of short‐term psychodynamic treatments of patients with depression and medically unexplained pain, respectively (Chavooshi et al, 2016 ; Lemma & Fonagy, 2013 ). Chavooshi et al ( 2016 ) indicated that intensive short‐term dynamic psychotherapy delivered by video conferencing was more effective for medically unexplained pain patients than treatment‐as‐usual.…”

Therapeutic Alliance in COVID-19 Era Remote Psychotherapy Delivered to Physically Ill Patients With Disturbed Body Image

“…Professional guidelines available specify the conditions to be met for good practice of teleconsultations in the psychological field: choice of software and IT aspects, privacy, optimization of "telepresence, " economic aspects, emotional factors and need for feedback (The British Psychological Society, 2020). Videoconferencing-based psychotherapy in the psychoanalytic field is more recent and investigations in this field into the specific psychopathology that requires treatment are rare (Juhos and Mészáros, 2019). As yet, there is no literature that empirically investigates thoroughly the characteristics of video in the treatment of specific mental disorders.…”