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Abstract
Objective
The aim of this study is to investigate the elements that characterize the formation of a therapeutic relationship when the sessions are conducted through videoconference.
Method
Conversation analysis was used to analyse the first three counselling sessions with five clients, for a total of 15 sessions.
Results
The phenomena detected in the conversational sequences dealt with the following issues: starting up (early definition of the problem, motivation to use a communication technology, and therapeutic rules), technological ruptures (interruptions and multimedia repair), environment, privacy, and going beyond videoconferencing, such as inter‐session contact and moving from videoconferencing to face‐to‐face meetings. The analysis of relational asymmetries also highlighted the relational dominance of the therapist. A series of these phenomena could be ascribed to the online modality; other ones are common in face‐to‐face sessions. The frequent request to integrate online sessions with face‐to‐face sessions might indicate that online psychotherapy is seen as a complement to face‐to‐face psychotherapy more than as a substitute for it.
Conclusions
The potential of online psychotherapy is still underestimated and further studies should be conducted on the specificities of the computer‐mediated communication within the therapeutic relationship.
Abstract
Funding: None.
Conflict of interest: None.
Funding: None.
Conflict of interest: None.
Notes
Funding: None.
Conflict of interest: None.