Therapists’ views and recommendations on the ins and outs of practicing teletherapy

ABSTRACT

Objective. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of teletherapy became mandatory for most therapists. Many therapists who had previously felt reluctant to try teletherapy ultimately transitioned to teletherapy with little experience or training. We qualitatively examined therapists’ subjective experiences of providing teletherapy, particularly regarding their future plans and advice for colleagues who will be using teletherapy.Methods. A total of 31 psychotherapists participated in semi-structured interviews. Interviews were recorded, then transcribed and analyzed using the Consensual Qualitative Research method. Results. Within the overarching domain Plans for after the pandemic, we identified five main categories: 1) For whom and when teletherapy is helpful; 2) Therapists’ future practice plans; 3) Therapists’ attitudes towards teletherapy; 4) Helpful professional support, and 5) Helpful to keep in mind when starting. Many therapists found teletherapy more acceptable than they expected and discovered that it was surprisingly useful for patients. Therapists highlighted the importance of professional peer support in tackling teletherapy’s technical, legal, and therapeutic challenges. Conclusion. Overall, these results suggest great variability in therapists’ subjective experiences with teletherapy during this time of forced transition. Although for some, teletherapy remains a second-best option, many now prefer hybrid treatment options for optimal flexibility.

KEYWORDS:

• teletherapy
• videoconferencing
• therapist
• COVID-19
• consensual qualitative research

Acknowledgments

The authors thank psychology graduate students at [removed for blind peer review] Universities for conducting, transcribing, and coding the interviews.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The authors did not receive any external funding of any kind.

Qualitative data is available upon request.

Disclosure statement

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

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2023.2227133

Notes

1. Multiple answers were possible in response to the question about the therapists’ therapeutic orientation.