Psychologists and their self-mirror: therapy experiences via videoconferencing

ABSTRACT

Objective

Changes to psychological practice have arisen in recent times with the rise of services being offered online as an alternative to in-person meetings. Videoconferencing is the most widely utilised form of telehealth used by psychologists, and a unique consequence of videoconferencing is that psychologists can see a synchronous self-mirror image during online sessions with clients. Research is yet to investigate psychologists’ experience of the self-mirror in the context of their online work.

Method

Semi-structured interviews with 16 Australian psychologists were conducted to explore their experiences of the self-mirror during video-conferencing therapy treatment sessions with their clients. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed several unique findings.

Results

Psychologists reported the presence of their self-mirror image during video conferencing sessions increased self-consciousness in relation to their appearance and presentation. Most reported the self-mirror to be largely distracting and disliked the presence of their own self-mirror image during online therapy sessions with clients. Some psychologists reported that the live time feedback was helpful and informative in modifying non-verbal expressions. Further challenges included uncertainty around client eye contact connection and vulnerability with client exposure to personal environments in the videoconferencing background.

Conclusions

It is recommended that psychologists regularly evaluate the impact of having their self-mirror view on during video-conferencing sessions with clients.

Key Points

What is already known about this topic:

(1) The growing use of telehealth videoconferencing brings with it the need to further investigate how this impacts the nature of therapeutic work for psychologists.

(2) Videoconferencing is the most widely utilised online telehealth modality for psychologists, and unique to this modality is that psychologists can see a live time self-mirror image of themselves during consultations.

(3) The impact of the self-mirror on psychologists’ experiences of video-conferencing therapy sessions had yet to be explored and reported upon.

What this topic adds:

(1) This study was the first to investigate and report upon psychologists’ experiences of their self-mirror in the context of online therapy with clients via videoconferencing.

(2) The presence of the self-mirror during online therapy sessions can increase self-consciousness and self-critical appraisals in appearance and presentation for psychologists. The self-mirror can also be distracting and adding to cognitive load; however, some psychologists could find the self-mirror feedback helpful to inform and modify their expressions in response to clients in real time.

(3) It is recommended that psychologists evaluate the impact of having their self-mirror view on during video-conferencing sessions with clients. When psychologists decide to keep their self-mirror view on, it is recommended that they monitor and regularly reflect upon the impact of the self-mirror on themselves, their clients and the therapeutic process.

KEYWORDS:

• Psychologist
• telehealth
• self-view
• therapy
• self-mirror

Disclosure statement

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

Ethics approval

This study was approved by the Australian College of Applied Psychology (ACAP) Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) (Ethics approval number: 717210121).

Data availability statement

The interview data that supports the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data is not publicly available due to ethical/privacy restrictions.

Additional information

Funding

The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.