Psychotherapist experiences with telepsychotherapy: Pre COVID-19 lessons for a post COVID-19 world.

Abstract

Psychotherapists accelerated their adoption of telepsychotherapy during the COVID-19 outbreak to accommodate preventative isolation and social distancing. Lessons from psychotherapist experiences with technology prior to the outbreak can offer recommendations for practitioners and professional regulators. In this study, psychotherapists were interviewed about their use of technology in practice and interviews were analyzed for consistency with current literature on usual practice and professional regulations. The researchers used actor-network theory to map and explore the links and themes that emerged from the research. We found that technology use was more integrated with psychotherapy practice and psychotherapists were more confident and comfortable with telepsychotherapy than the literature predicted. Key themes arising from the interviews were psychotherapist responsibility and trust that included expanded psychotherapist responsibility, client trust, psychotherapists' self-trust, and trust of information sources. Telepsychotherapy can be enhanced by reflective, intentional practice, making space to examine routine behaviors, and developing strategies to counteract the unreliability of technology. Further, professional and regulatory bodies can support effective practice by developing clear and achievable technological competence responsibilities and by integrating technology training with mandatory psychotherapy education.

Column on Telebehavioral Health Education, Training, and Competency Development: Current and Future Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Many new TBH practitioners since the pandemic are likely to be at a beginner or novice level of competency and will need further education, training, experience, supervision, or consultation to obtain a proficient level of competency. This includes learning what practitioners in other BH professions are doing in TBH and when possible, collaborating with and learning from them (MacMullin et al, 2020 ). It is incumbent upon TBH practitioners to be familiar and comply with their professional standards and guidelines and best practices relevant to telehealth practice.…”

Terapia On-line com Casais e Famílias: Prática e Formação na Pandemia de Covid-19

“…Em linhas gerais, essa transição foi motivada pelas medidas de distanciamento social. Entretanto, mesmo nos casos em que é possível realizar atendimentos presenciais em condições adequadas de proteção contra o novo coronavírus -em ambientes ventilados, com manutenção de distância física entre as pessoas e uso de máscaras, por exemplo -há quem opte pela modalidade remota, por necessidade ou conveniência (MacMullin, Jerry, & Cook, 2020). Portanto, destaca-se a relevância da qualificação da terapia on-line, sobretudo ao considerar que o tempo de duração da pandemia é imprevisível (Schmidt et al, 2020) e que, mesmo ao final dela, há chances de essa modalidade se tornar mais disseminada e vir a ser integrada em definitivo à prática de muitos terapeutas de casal e família, os quais precisarão reconhecer suas potencialidades e desafios (MacMullin et al, 2020).…”

The Digital Culture Of The Academy And The Limits Of Technology

“…Without rehashing the realities and ramifications of this worldwide event, as this has already been documented by scholars interested or operating within perhaps almost every national and disciplinary context (Kruglanski et al, 2021;MacMullin et al, 2020;Marciano, 2021;Yohannes, 2021;Zahra, 2020), in this article I would like to engage with the notion of the pandemic raising more pertinent issues regarding the pre-pandemic discourse on technology use, particularly in higher education, as having a 'salvific role in universally elevating education standards' (Felix, 2021, p. 2). In previous work, I have both discussed and alluded to this utopiantype discourse, especially as an underlying technological determinism is often present with technology-based and technology-focused initiatives, particularly in higher education (Felix, 2019b).…”