Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: Teletherapy, in which psychotherapy is delivered remotely through telephone, voice conferencing, or video conferencing, is a popularizing alternative to in-person psychotherapy. Specifically, teletherapy has the potential to overcome or mitigate barriers to mental health services and disseminate these services to populations who may not have access to traditional therapy otherwise. This is especially relevant in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic, where face-to-face psychotherapy has become largely inaccessible due to health and safety measures. This paper aims to summarize and critically analyse the current literature that exists on teletherapy and identify if teletherapy can effectively replace traditional therapy. Overall, the literature supports that teletherapy is equally as effective as traditional therapy, highly satisfying, and beneficial for clients. Clients were also able to quickly acclimate to teletherapy, establish rapport and therapeutic alliance, and were able to disclose the same or even more information as usual, known as the online disinhibition effect. Additional benefits included increased attendance and adherence to treatment due to teletherapy’s convenience in time and location. Benefits were especially pronounced for videoconferenced teletherapy as opposed to voice-only teletherapy since it provides a visual component that mimics a “face-to-face” interaction. Thus, therapists should be encouraged to adopt videoconferenced teletherapy for appropriate clients, especially during today’s COVID-19 pandemic. While clinicians generally hold a positive attitude towards teletherapy, research has unveiled a lack of knowledge and training amongst clinicians as well as many false misconceptions about its efficacy. Future research should look at how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the attitude towards and utilization of teletherapy amongst professionals and the public, and exactly how many clinicians are currently conducting teletherapy. Further research regarding the efficacy of teletherapy in different populations should be conducted, particularly in the realm of telephone delivered psychotherapy which currently lacks evidence.
Author: Vu, Julie
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7215325201