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From Therapy to Teletherapy: Relocating Mental Health Services Online

Published: 18 October 2021 Publication History

Abstract

Numerous studies have highlighted a range of potential benefits of teletherapy for clients. Nonetheless, researchers have found that many therapists are reluctant to adopt teletherapy in their work practice. There is a dearth of research about how therapists have appropriated telehealth platforms, either to understand teletherapy practice or to understand the challenges and opportunities for system design. The COVID-19 pandemic offers an unfortunate but unique opportunity to learn more about the experiences of therapists who use a range of therapeutic interventions with a range of client populations. In this work, we explore the following research question: in what ways do telehealth platforms support and challenge the work of teletherapy? We present results of semi-structured interviews conducted with 14 mental health therapists during the first six months of the pandemic in the United States. We present a descriptive account of their experiences as well as a discussion of the ways in which the multi-layered and interdependent nature of two facets of therapeutic work---the therapeutic alliance and the therapeutic interventions---made the transition to computer-supported cooperative work particularly challenging. We then offer a suite of design implications for systems that better support the nuanced and unique work of teletherapy.

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cover image Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction  Volume 5, Issue CSCW2
CSCW2
October 2021
5376 pages
EISSN:2573-0142
DOI:10.1145/3493286
Issue’s Table of Contents
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License.

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 18 October 2021
Published in PACMHCI Volume 5, Issue CSCW2

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Author Tags

  1. COVID-19
  2. online mental health services
  3. remote work
  4. telehealth
  5. teletherapy

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  • (2023)Remote arts therapy in collaborative virtual environment: A pilot case studyFrontiers in Virtual Reality10.3389/frvir.2023.10592784Online publication date: 12-May-2023
  • (2023)Exploring User Perspectives of and Ethical Experiences With Teletherapy Apps: Qualitative Analysis of User ReviewsJMIR Mental Health10.2196/4968410(e49684)Online publication date: 22-Sep-2023
  • (2023)Empowering Seafarers as Agents of Their Mental Health: The Role of Information and Communication Technology in Seafarers’ Well-BeingINQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing10.1177/0046958023116275260(004695802311627)Online publication date: 22-Mar-2023
  • (2023)Remote art therapy in collaborative virtual environment: a pilot study on feasibility and usability2023 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW)10.1109/VRW58643.2023.00175(665-666)Online publication date: Mar-2023
  • (2022)Influence of Passive Haptic and Auditory Feedback on Presence and Mindfulness in Virtual Reality EnvironmentsProceedings of the 2022 International Conference on Multimodal Interaction10.1145/3536221.3556622(558-569)Online publication date: 7-Nov-2022

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