Clients’ Perceptions of Changes in Their Therapists’ Positive Regard in Transitioning from In-Person Therapy to Teletherapy

Abstract

Objective To investigate clients’ perceptions of changes in their therapists’ provision of positive regard (PR) following their transition from in-person therapy to teletherapy.

Method A total of 2,118 clients, predominantly White, female, heterosexual, and in their mid-20s, who had been working with their therapist for an average of 20 months in-person and five months in teletherapy completed a Perceptions of Psychotherapy Process Scale (POPPS). This 42-item measure investigated, at a single time-point, the extent to which participants believed that specific therapist-related behaviors, statements, or attitudes changed since shifting to teletherapy.

Results An exploratory factor analysis revealed, among other factors, a factor comprised of six items related to therapist-provided PR (e.g., “my therapist makes me feel cared about”). Clients’ scores on this factor indicated a marginal but significant increase in therapists’ provision of PR over teletherapy; these scores also significantly predicted scores on a factor reflecting clients’ engagement in teletherapy.

Conclusions Despite the challenges of an abrupt shift to teletherapy, clients perceive their therapists as communicating PR to the same or even slightly higher degrees as compared to in-person therapy pre-pandemic; therapists and clients have seemingly adapted to the new demands of technology to preserve important elements of the therapeutic relationship.

Keywords:

• positive regard
• teletherapy
• relational variables
• therapist factors

Acknowledgement

We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of our research assistants to this paper: Jake Hermann, Emily Hubbard, Mossie Lierle, Shibo Lyu, Tanya Mehdizadeh, Paula Ryszkiewicz, Lily Steinman, and Mingrui Wu.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2022.2146544.