Remote Psychotherapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Experiences With the Transition and the Therapeutic Relationship. A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Study

Aims: Research conducted prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic indicates that remote psychotherapy is as effective as in-person treatment. At that time, it usually was the therapist’s individual choice to work remotely, whereas the pandemic pushed psychotherapists, including previous skeptics,...

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Autores principales:	Robert Stefan, Gerd Mantl, Claudia Höfner, Julia Stammer, Markus Hochgerner, Kathrin Petersdorfer
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	remote psychotherapy COVID–19 psychotherapeutic relationship mixed method approach videotherapy Psychology BF1-990
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/b2b2be97738149d383d00523e7e5b544
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:b2b2be97738149d383d00523e7e5b5442021-11-30T15:49:29ZRemote Psychotherapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Experiences With the Transition and the Therapeutic Relationship. A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Study1664-107810.3389/fpsyg.2021.743430https://doaj.org/article/b2b2be97738149d383d00523e7e5b5442021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.743430/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/1664-1078Aims: Research conducted prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic indicates that remote psychotherapy is as effective as in-person treatment. At that time, it usually was the therapist’s individual choice to work remotely, whereas the pandemic pushed psychotherapists, including previous skeptics, to incorporate remote work methods into their routine due to limited face-to-face contact. There is little knowledge of the way therapists experienced this sudden and forced transition to remote psychotherapy as the only treatment option. The present study aims to assess psychotherapists’ experience and proficiency delivering remote psychotherapy as well as to investigate perceived changes in the psychotherapeutic relationship.Methods: An online survey was administered to psychotherapists of the Austrian Association for Group Therapy and Group Dynamics (ÖAGG). Three test periods (t) were set (t1: April, 2020 with N = 175; t2: May–June, 2020 with N = 177; t3: November–December, 2020 with N = 113). Research was conducted longitudinally using a mixed-methods research design.Results: While psychotherapists’ levels of experience with telephone-based psychotherapy remained similar across all test periods, they became slightly more experienced using video therapy over the test period observed. However, they continued to feel less experienced compared to the use of telephone-based psychotherapy. The therapeutic relationship appeared to improve over the course of the first two test periods, while the third period showed a slight decline. No general deterioration of the psychotherapeutic relationship was found in the timespan studied.Conclusion: Despite many challenges and concerns, psychotherapists seem to adapt and enhance their skills in remote psychotherapy over time. The present paper confirms and enhances previous findings in the field due to its longitudinal approach. Remote psychotherapy can be a credible and trustworthy alternative to in-person treatment to be adopted and implemented on principle by a majority of psychotherapists regardless of their orientation. Furthermore, it sheds light on chances, problems und general observations regarding the comprehensive provision of remote psychotherapy in a pandemic situation.Robert StefanGerd MantlClaudia HöfnerJulia StammerMarkus HochgernerKathrin PetersdorferFrontiers Media S.A.articleremote psychotherapyCOVID–19psychotherapeutic relationshipmixed method approachvideotherapyPsychologyBF1-990ENFrontiers in Psychology, Vol 12 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	remote psychotherapy COVID–19 psychotherapeutic relationship mixed method approach videotherapy Psychology BF1-990
spellingShingle	remote psychotherapy COVID–19 psychotherapeutic relationship mixed method approach videotherapy Psychology BF1-990 Robert Stefan Gerd Mantl Claudia Höfner Julia Stammer Markus Hochgerner Kathrin Petersdorfer Remote Psychotherapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Experiences With the Transition and the Therapeutic Relationship. A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Study
description	Aims: Research conducted prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic indicates that remote psychotherapy is as effective as in-person treatment. At that time, it usually was the therapist’s individual choice to work remotely, whereas the pandemic pushed psychotherapists, including previous skeptics, to incorporate remote work methods into their routine due to limited face-to-face contact. There is little knowledge of the way therapists experienced this sudden and forced transition to remote psychotherapy as the only treatment option. The present study aims to assess psychotherapists’ experience and proficiency delivering remote psychotherapy as well as to investigate perceived changes in the psychotherapeutic relationship.Methods: An online survey was administered to psychotherapists of the Austrian Association for Group Therapy and Group Dynamics (ÖAGG). Three test periods (t) were set (t1: April, 2020 with N = 175; t2: May–June, 2020 with N = 177; t3: November–December, 2020 with N = 113). Research was conducted longitudinally using a mixed-methods research design.Results: While psychotherapists’ levels of experience with telephone-based psychotherapy remained similar across all test periods, they became slightly more experienced using video therapy over the test period observed. However, they continued to feel less experienced compared to the use of telephone-based psychotherapy. The therapeutic relationship appeared to improve over the course of the first two test periods, while the third period showed a slight decline. No general deterioration of the psychotherapeutic relationship was found in the timespan studied.Conclusion: Despite many challenges and concerns, psychotherapists seem to adapt and enhance their skills in remote psychotherapy over time. The present paper confirms and enhances previous findings in the field due to its longitudinal approach. Remote psychotherapy can be a credible and trustworthy alternative to in-person treatment to be adopted and implemented on principle by a majority of psychotherapists regardless of their orientation. Furthermore, it sheds light on chances, problems und general observations regarding the comprehensive provision of remote psychotherapy in a pandemic situation.
format	article
author	Robert Stefan Gerd Mantl Claudia Höfner Julia Stammer Markus Hochgerner Kathrin Petersdorfer
author_facet	Robert Stefan Gerd Mantl Claudia Höfner Julia Stammer Markus Hochgerner Kathrin Petersdorfer
author_sort	Robert Stefan
title	Remote Psychotherapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Experiences With the Transition and the Therapeutic Relationship. A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Study
title_short	Remote Psychotherapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Experiences With the Transition and the Therapeutic Relationship. A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Study
title_full	Remote Psychotherapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Experiences With the Transition and the Therapeutic Relationship. A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Study
title_fullStr	Remote Psychotherapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Experiences With the Transition and the Therapeutic Relationship. A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Study
title_full_unstemmed	Remote Psychotherapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Experiences With the Transition and the Therapeutic Relationship. A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Study
title_sort	remote psychotherapy during the covid-19 pandemic. experiences with the transition and the therapeutic relationship. a longitudinal mixed-methods study
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/b2b2be97738149d383d00523e7e5b544
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Remote Psychotherapy During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Experiences With the Transition and the Therapeutic Relationship. A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Study

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