ABSTRACT
The unprecedented times of the novel Coronavirus quarantine and subsequent stay-at-home orders have changed the way many couple therapists provide clinical services. Understanding couple therapists' experiences with teletherapy is important for optimizing future telehealth delivery with couples. Thus, the purpose of this mixed methods survey study was to explore couple therapists' experiences of transitioning from in-person/traditional therapy to online/telehealth delivery. A total of 58 couple therapists completed an online survey for this study. Reported are both quantitative and qualitative findings. Overall, this study found that couple therapists experienced a positive shift from traditional/in-person therapy to online/telehealth therapy, with a majority of couple therapists (74%) reporting they would continue providing teletherapy after the novel Coronavirus pandemic and social distancing regulations had ended. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes from couple therapists' experiences related to advantages, challenges, and recommendations for practice. Implications for clinical training and future research are discussed.
Subject(s)
Couples Therapy/organization & administration , Family Therapy/organization & administration , Physical Therapists/statistics & numerical data , Remote Consultation/organization & administration , Telerehabilitation/organization & administration , Attitude of Health Personnel , COVID-19/epidemiology , Female , Humans , Male , Physical Therapists/psychology , Surveys and Questionnaires , Telemedicine/statistics & numerical dataABSTRACT
Hospitals have eliminated many in-person interactions and established new protocols to stem the spread of COVID-19. Inpatient psychiatric units face unique challenges, as patients cannot be isolated in their rooms and are at times unable to practice social distancing measures. Many institutions have experimented with providing some psychiatric services remotely to reduce the number of people physically present on the wards and decrease the risk of disease transmission. This case report presents 2 patient perspectives on receiving psychiatric care via videoconferencing while on the inpatient unit of a large academic tertiary care hospital. One patient identified some benefits to virtual treatment while the second found the experience impersonal; both were satisfied with the overall quality of care they received and were stable 2 weeks after discharge. These cases demonstrate that effective care can be provided remotely even to severely ill psychiatric patients who require hospitalization.