Telemental Health during a Pandemic: Third Space Conversations

ABSTRACT

This article presents Intersubjectivity and Intersectionality, theoretical frameworks used to guide telemental health during a pandemic that has underscored issues of power and privilege. Intersubjectivity is a meta-theory of psychoanalytic psychotherapy that examines the interplay between subjectivities in the clinician/client relationship. Intersectionality addresses the importance of an intersectional understanding of the identity categories that inform intersubjectivity. This includes examining internalized societal relations, unconscious accommodations to oppressive social structures, and inequalities that may be implicitly enacted in therapeutic practices.

The freedom to address these challenges is discussed in “third space” conversations, the interactional therapeutic field where the clinician’s and the client’s social identities and subjective attitudes are present and influential.

The sudden move to telemental health provides the opportunity to examine the impact of this transition, clinically significant in addressing issues of privilege related to work from home, exposure to illness, flexibility in scheduling, access to telemental health, mental health challenges, and resilience during a pandemic that is both personal and collective.

KEYWORDS:

• Pandemic
• telemental health
• intersectionality
• intersubjectivity

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joan G. Lesser

Joan Granucci Lesser, PhD, LICSW is a social work clinician, researcher, educator and author. She is Adjunct Associate Professor at Smith College School for Social Work and has a private psychotherapy practice. Dr. Lesser is the co-author of two social work textbooks and numerous articles and book chapters, and has presented locally, nationally and internationally on a variety of clinical topics. She received the 2012 National Association of Social Worker MA Chapter award for “greatest contribution to social work practice” for founding Pioneer Valley Professionals, an interdisciplinary group practice in Holyoke, MA.