Trauma and Distress on a Cruise during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study with Italian and French Tourists

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed our daily lives. One of the sectors most affected was tourism and travel – and, more specifically, cruises, given the prolonged time passengers spend with others within the small spaces of the cruise ship. While finding well-organised entertainment opportunities on cruises is possible, emergency conditions may cause panic. On such occasions, reactions can be highly stressful or even traumatic. This research explores the events and emotions experienced by passengers during a cruise ship quarantined for COVID-19. The empirical materials consist of interviews with 15 passengers. The analyses show four thematic areas: fear of contagion, feelings of discrimination, cooperation between passengers and relationship with the crew. The problems during a cruise ship quarantine presented by the passengers in this study reveal the need for psychological preparation for the crew and security personnel. Finally, we suggest that telemedicine and telepsychology are key elements to improve the efficiency of behavioral control on cruise ships and to mitigate the COVID-19 effects on tourists' well-being during a quarantine. © 2023 by the author.

Experiences of queer women and nonbinary individuals with mental health care services during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative effect on mental health. Queer women and nonbinary individuals disproportionately experience mental health issues when compared to heterosexuals, often facing challenges in receiving care from providers who are sensitive to their concerns and competent in their care. Objective: To report experience of queer women and nonbinary individuals in the United States with mental health care services before and during the pandemic. Methods: Data were gathered via a 43-item survey about experiences with mental health care services before and during the pandemic that was posted on four social media sites, and flyers hung in university student centers and businesses friendly to LGBTQ individuals. Queer women and nonbinary individuals between the ages of 18 and 75 were invited to participate. Descriptive statistics and Spearman?s correlations were used for data analysis. Results: There were 175 participants who met inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. During the pandemic, more survey participants received mental health services compared with before the pandemic. How they received care significantly changed from before the pandemic (mostly in-person) to during the pandemic (mostly remote). Participants reported being seen significantly more frequently for mental health care during the pandemic compared to before. A higher percentage of participants received both psychotherapy and medication during the pandemic compared with before. They were generally satisfied with their mental health care;however, satisfaction was significantly higher during the pandemic. Conclusion: During the pandemic, compared with before, significantly more participants received mental health care and there were significantly more virtual mental health visits, more frequent mental health visits, more intensive therapies, and higher patient satisfaction. Telehealth care was perceived to be beneficial by most participants. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Exploring the Newer Horizons of Online Therapy – Its use and Effectiveness

The advancement of computing technology is becoming more important in the healthcare industry. Remotely assisted pain management treatments (Eaton et al., 2014) and tele-psychology (Godleski et al., 2012;Caver et al., 2020) have both been effectively adopted in the Veterans Affairs (VA) system throughout the United States. The American Psychological Association (2013) notes that the increasing reliance on technology to facilitate the delivery of psychological services brings with it a number of novel possibilities, factors to consider, and obstacles to practise. Glueckauf et al. (2018) found that although approximately 40% of practising clinical psychologists in the United States had utilised tele-psychology, the vast majority (60%) had never done so. Most clinical psychologists they surveyed expressed reservations about providing services through video chat and hence exclusively saw patients in person. Glueckauf et al. (2018) found that over half of psychologists surveyed felt they needed more training in crisis management for online therapy, and that nearly all therapists (79%) were worried about issues related to security, confidentiality, and HIPAA. © 2023, Journal for ReAttach Therapy and Developmental Diversities. All Rights Reserved.

Attitudes of Mental Health Professionals towards Telepsychology during the Pandemic: A Pilot Study.

OBJECTIVE: This pilot study investigated mental health professionals' attitudes towards remote psychological consultations and internet-based interventions. METHODS: An online survey in Italian and English was administered to a sample of 191 psychologists and psychotherapists to collect detailed information about their professional experience providing online psychological interventions a year and a half after the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. RESULTS: The results did not reveal a statistically significant association between the participants' theoretical approaches and the number of patients treated via the online modality. Overall, most of the participants found advantages to the online setting but also noted critical issues regarding privacy and the ease of integrating new technology into their clinical practice. CONCLUSIONS: According to the participants, despite the challenges that must be addressed, telehealth is a viable psychological therapeutic option that is destined to grow in importance in the near future.

The development of a common factors based virtual reality therapy system for remote psychotherapy applications

Mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety affect one in five adults in the United States. According to the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), non-serious mental illnesses are found in 30.6% of young adults aged 18-25 years old and 25.3% of adults aged 26-49 years old. In 2020, the NSDUH found that only 44.8% of all adults living with non-serious mental illnesses sought treatment. In 2020 and 2021 with the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, 41.5% of US adults reported to have been struggling symptoms of an anxiety of depressive disorder. With this added burden, the increase in social isolation during the pandemic, and unknown long term psychological effects of the past year and a half, the need for an effective remote psychotherapy treatment is even more evident. The objective of this research is to address the growing need for a remote psychotherapy solution that is both accessible for isolated patients and effective. One approach to therapeutic healing that is standard in counseling psychology is the use of psychotherapy based on common factors theory. This theory poses that there are several common factors that need to be addressed for healing to occur. This research focuses on two of the common factors that are most difficult to reproduce in remote psychotherapy: the therapeutic alliance and the therapeutic environment. We hypothesize that the use of a virtual reality (VR) and neurofeedback based psychotherapy system specifically designed based on common factors theory will lead to better performance in the therapeutic alliance between therapists and patients and ultimately, better outcomes for remote psychotherapy patients. The following specific aims address this hypothesis:Specific Aim 1: Design and Develop a Common Factors Based Virtual Reality Therapy for Remote Psychotherapy Applications. A full common factors based VR psychotherapy system was developed using Unity3D, Autodesk Maya, and MATLAB. Key components of the design include three virtual environments designed based on key elements of restorative environments (Forest World, Log Cabin, and Freud Therapist Office), two therapist avatars based on Jungian archetypes for healing (Woman Healer, Sage), a neurofeedback system using electroencephalography (EEG), a therapist interface, and a patient interface. Success was measured based on the prototype's ability to be a fully functional remote psychotherapy treatment, its adherence to restorative environments design elements, and its adherence to Jungian archetypes design elements.Specific Aim 2: Determine the functionality and usability of the novel common factors based VR therapy system for therapists. The first step to determining the efficacy of a novel treatment system in psychotherapy is to analyze the functionality and usability of the treatment for therapists. Specifically, this study examined if therapists are able to effectively use this system for the remote treatment of depression and general anxiety. A proof of concept study was conducted with 21 observing counselors in training to examine the functionality and usability of the VR enhanced therapy system for therapists. The session was conducted with a professional therapist and a patient using the VR system in another room. Measures from this study will include the 1. Client Reactions Systems, 2. Perceived Restorative Scale, 3. Session Evaluation Questionnaire, and 4. Presence Questionnaire. Success will be determined by examining the neutral score for each these metrics, and comparing the scores received by therapists to the average. The treatment was considered successful if the novel VR treatments preforms as well or better than the average across all metrics.Specific Aim 3: Determine the functionality and usability of the novel common factors based VR therapy system for patients. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Face-to-face or teleconsultation?: Good clinical practices in psychology students during Covid-19

Covid-19 as a health problem has generated a health and care crisis for the population, especially leading psychologists to examine new forms of care for people. The objective of this research was to compare the results of the clinical practice process in person, by telepsychology and alternately, developed by psychology students from higher education institutions in the Colombian Caribbean in the context of Covid-19;through a mixed study, including quantitative and qualitative data collection through online forms, applied to a sample of 105 students and 6 internship tutors from two Higher Education Institutions located in Barranquilla and Sincelejo. The results show that both telepsychology and face-to-face and alternation allow the development of clinical skills in students such as interviews, observations, evaluations, psychoeducation and intervention, and that practice tutors are satisfactorily valued as facilitators of these knowledge and skills, using different strategies and technological resources for it. It is concluded that the three modalities allow to carry out the training practices in health in a satisfactory manner, especially if accompanied by tutors with a high degree of commitment, empathy and adequate instruction © 2023, Revista de Ciencias Sociales.All Rights Reserved.

"i hear you": Exploring the lived experience of counselors' empathic response to clients when conducting telephonic counseling during COVID-19

This study sought to unearth the lived experience of counselors empathically responding to clients via telephonic counseling during COVID-19. The term empathic response refers to as attending to the emotional and mental state of another person in a way that is attuned with the feelings and meanings of the individual's experience. There are few studies that have assessed the merits of telephonic counseling, and even fewer that have examined counselors' empathic response to clients through this medium.To uncover the lived experience of the target population, the participants of the study were purposefully selected to include only those who had actively conducted telephonic counseling with clients in an outpatient setting during the pandemic. This hermeneutic phenomenological study was informed by Clark's (2010) integral model of empathy and Peoples' (2020) general data analysis steps in phenomenological research. The study was conducted with a total of eleven participants who had conducted telephonic counseling during COVID-19. The results of the study identified the master theme of subjective empathy, under which fell the subthemes of identification, imagination, intuition, and felt-level experience. The study also identified the master theme of interpersonal empathy, under which fell the subthemes of understanding barrier to counseling, understanding clients' SES situations, understanding the clients' natural environment, environmental barriers to interpersonal empathy, and emotional barriers to interpersonal empathy. Finally, the study identified the master theme of objective empathy, under which fell the subtheme of information from supervision as a source for objective empathy and information from COVID-related media as a source for objective empathy. The limitations, implications of the study, suggestions for future research, and questions for future research were included. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Telepsychology: The experience of Clinical Psychology Unit-ASST della Brianza in the COVID-19 era

The onset of COVID-19 pandemic has implied the need for a deep rearrangement of several healthcare settings, to provide patients with safe treatment solutions. Accordingly, healthcare professionals have witnessed an exponential increase in the use of telehealth since the beginning of pandemic. We hereby provide a systematic review of the latest national and international published literature and guidelines about telepsychology. Finally, by describing the experience of the Clinical Psychology Unit of ASST Brianza (NHS, Lombardy-Italy) in remodeling everyday clinical activity, we will provide a concrete example of how telepsychology interventions have proved to be effective both in ensuring continuity to already-in-charge patients and in empowering emergency services to support general population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved) (Italian) L'esordio della pandemia da COVID-19 ha implicato il bisogno di una profonda riorganizzazione del sistema sanitario, al fine di poter offrire ai pazienti soluzioni di trattamento sicure. Per tali motivi, dall'inizio della pandemia tra i professionisti sanitari si e assistito ad un incremento esponenziale nell'utilizzo della telemedicina. In questo lavoro esporremo una revisione sistematica delle piu aggiornate linee guida nazionali ed internazionali pubblicate in letteratura in merito alla telepsicologia. In conclusione, descrivendo l'esperienza di riorganizzazione dell'attivita clinica ordinaria dell'Unita Operativa di Psicologia Clinica di ASST Brianza (SSN, Regione Lombardia) intendiamo fornire un esempio concreto di come gli interventi di telepsicologia si siano dimostrati efficaci sia nell'offrire continuita di intervento ai pazienti gia in carico, sia nell'implementazione di servizi emergenziali a supporto della popolazione generale. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Barriers and Facilitators to Psychologists' Telepsychology Uptake during the Beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the delivery of psychological services as many psychologists adopted telepsychology for the first time or dramatically increased their use of it. The current study examined qualitative and quantitative data provided by 2619 practicing psychologists to identify variables facilitating and impeding the adoption of telepsychology in the U.S. at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The top five reported barriers were: inadequate access to technology, diminished therapeutic alliance, technological issues, diminished quality of delivered care or effectiveness, and privacy concerns. The top five reported facilitators were: increased safety, better access to patient care, patient demand, efficient use of time, and adequate technology for telepsychology use. Psychologists' demographic and practice characteristics robustly predicted their endorsement of telepsychology barriers and facilitators. These findings provide important context into the implementation of telepsychology at the beginning of the pandemic and may serve future implementation strategies in clinics and healthcare organizations attempting to increase telepsychology utilization.

Psychologists' attitudes and COVID-19

Video based online psychotherapy has traditionally been an under-utilized tool by psychologists. Lack of experience, comfort with technology, and lack training, amongst other variables have historically been attributed as major barriers to adoption of online therapy. Only recently have psychologists' attitudes about online therapy been explored. Recent literature suggests psychologists' attitudes could significantly account for psychologists' intent to utilize online therapy in the future. The COVID-19 pandemic provided an unprecedented opportunity for psychologists to experience providing video based online therapy. This study examined psychologists' attitudes about video based psychotherapy, their comfort providing telepsychological services, challenges they experienced in transitioning to online services and what resources they used to aid their transition during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychologists' intent to use online therapy for the future and platforms used to deliver therapy during the pandemic were also investigated. This study surveyed 230 psychologists and psychology trainees, collecting demographic data including practice setting, professional status, age, and ethnicity. Using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model, attitudes about online therapy are discussed. Data analysis was conducted on quantitative measures and qualitative responses were categorized and coded. Results indicate most psychologists reported positive attitudes about online therapy and endorsed using online therapy in the future. Previous experience in online therapy had a statistically significant impact on psychologists' attitudes and their comfort level with the technology. This study's findings present a massive shift in participant comfort level with online therapy. Results show 90% of participants intend to use online therapy in the future. The implications of this study highlight the need to standardize training and incorporate training into psychology doctoral programs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Psychoanalysis, the digital world, and the pandemic: Frontiers and challenges in different settings

The accessibility of the digital world and of remote analysis via Telehealth poses ever more cogent questions for psychoanalysis. One major frontier is undoubtedly characterized by the use of remote analysis (teleanalysis), especially in a time where the pandemic of the Coronavirus has caused a necessary increase of the use of this tool in our discipline, with a parallel increase of the issues concerning this area, where transformations, which initiate symbolic and representational activity, involve affective states that have not been represented and are therefore asymbolic inside the body. Some clinical illustrations will illustrate experience where the digital dimension becomes the core content of the session, that is to say during a remote analysis, thanks also to the specific use of all this material as a psychic and allusive derivative for which we construct the possibility of symbolisation and comprehension. What seems fundamental is the readiness of the analyst and the patient to accept every manifestation of the "remote" setting within the analytic elaboration of the couple at work, and the possibility of better understanding the psychoanalytic nature of teleanalysis and the stance to be adopted in relation to it. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Addressing concerns and adapting psychological techniques for videoconsultations: A practical guide

Objective: The 2020 coronavirus pandemic required many psychologists to rapidly transition to telehealth services to reduce virus exposure. Telepsychology services expanded quickly in Australia. This article seeks to provide simple and practical recommendations for clinicians who are changing their practice. Method: A narrative literature review focusing on psychologists' concerns regarding telehealth-facilitated psychology or telepsychology was undertaken. Results: Research literature and guidelines from peak professional bodies such as The Australian Psychological Society and the American Psychological Association, inform two sections of the article: Common Concerns about Videoconsultations and;Practical Considerations for Effective Videoconsultations. Telepsychology, has numerous benefits, especially during emergency situations. However, concerns regarding efficacy, therapeutic alliance, and the digital divide have contributed to psychologists' unwillingness to use telepsychology. Evidence suggests that efficacy and therapeutic alliance is comparable between telepsychology and in-person services. Simple evidence-based adjustments to therapeutic practice can optimise videoconsultations and increase the effectiveness of telepsychology. Despite the rapid change to videoconsultations, evidence suggests that Australian psychologists need not be concerned about clinical efficacy or therapeutic alliance related to telepsychology. However, it is acknowledged that transitioning to telehealth models of care is disruptive. Conclusion: This paper can assist clinicians in selecting appropriate clients for telepsychology, increase effectiveness and mitigate risks. Key Points: What is already known about this topic: (1) Research supports the clinical efficacy and establishment of therapeutic alliance related to telepsychology services and highlights that concerns regarding the digital divide need to be evidence-based, not based on assumptions. (2) As outlined in this paper, it is important to consider client suitability and ethical considerations prior to delivering telepsychology services. (3) The adaptations to psychological techniques, as highlighted in this paper, can increase the effectiveness of videoconsultations. What this topic adds: (1) An examination of common concerns related to videoconsultations including: efficacy, therapeutic alliance and the digital divide. (2) A practical evidence-based checklist for pre-therapy videoconsultation considerations. (3) An evidence-based checklist of practice adaptations that can increase effectiveness in videoconsultation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Reflections on "transitionality" in online child psychoanalysis

The COVID-19 pandemic provides a real-world opportunity to explore the Winnicottian concepts of transitional objects and transitional phenomena in the context of online or distance treatment. The capacity for transitionality, delineated by Angela Joyce, may be an important element in determining a patient's ability to use remote therapy. The case report of a young child's pre-pandemic and interpandemic remote psychoanalytic treatment is used to illustrate the developing capacity of transitionality and possible technical interventions to promote its elaboration. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Telemental health experiences of doctoral students in counseling psychology programs

The central focus of this dissertation is to provide an overview of many areas of telepsychology and the lived experiences of doctoral students using teletherapy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the origins of telemental health, and its development since the COVID-19 pandemic are discussed. The cost and benefit of these services is explored along with the possible directions in in the field of telepsychology. This is an important topic considering the steadily increasing reliance on technology. Teletherapy is especially pertinent to psychology doctoral students who are learning how to deliver psychology services, reduce stigma, and widen access in the best ways possible. Current trends suggest this form of service delivery will likely become more popular. For this reason, it is important to understand the experiences of doctoral students with this mode of service delivery. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis design was used to examine the experiences of 4 doctoral level counseling psychology students. Each of these students had at least some experience providing telehealth services to varying degrees. Each participant discussed their experiences providing services, the feedback they have received from clients about their experiences, and how their educational experience was impacted by learning virtually during the pandemic. These results provide insight into the participants' challenges, benefits, and future areas of growth associated with providing telemental health services. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Developing a Brief Tele-Psychotherapy Model for Covid-19 Patients and Their Family Members

Introduction: While many studies are available on the psychological impact that the pandemic has had on the general population, few studies have considered survivors of COVID-19 and their first-degree relatives. The incidence and prevalence of psychological distress in COVID-19 patients greatly vary by country and by study methodology, and go beyond the current possibilities of any mental health system to offer in-person services, with the result that most users fail to receive the necessary support. There exists an urgent need to intervene on the psychological suffering of COVID-19 patients and their family members with treatments that can be offered safely and on a large scale, without burdening an already strained health system. We leveraged the ongoing clinical experiences with COVID-19 survivors and family members to design a clinical intervention model that could be remotely administered and could easily integrate with the workflow of the regional health system. The result of this process was the development of a brief remote psychotherapy program to be delivered via telemedicine. Method(s): We first reviewed the scientific literature on psychotherapeutic interventions that were designed to treat psychopathology among COVID-19 patients and family-members. Based on this evidence, we harmonized techniques and strategies deriving from several psychotherapeutic orientations into a brief psychotherapy program that was developed along three main theoretical trajectories: psychodynamic therapy, constructivist therapy and hermeneutic-phenomenological therapy. Result(s): The program consists of 8 remote, 50-minute, individual psychological sessions offered weekly using secure video conferencing software. The severity of the clinical conditions of COVID-19 patients has largely influenced the sequencing of the intervention both for patients themselves and for their family members dealing with the COVID-19 hospitalization/discharge/loss of a loved one. We considered it appropriate to circumscribe the exploration of the different psychological targets within each session, given the unpredictable nature of the course of illness, and the possible onset of events that could radically change the psychological state of patients and family members. During the initial phase of treatment, the therapist highlights the patient's ways of suffering and coping, in hopes to identify together with the patient which ones are already familiar and which ones are novel. In the context of the patient's textual refiguration, the therapist makes room for interpretative cooperation by sharing clinical objectives: a commonality of intents that brings therapist and patient to accept the challenge of the clinical work. During all phases of the clinical work, suffering is contextualized both in the light of the recent traumatic experience (bereavement, hospitalization in intensive care, fear for one's life or that of a relative), and in the light of historical ways of suffering, so that the patient is able to recognize the meaning of the currently experienced symptom. Session 1 includes introductions and exploration of the patient's current experience space as well as identification of the areas of suffering and brief recapitulation of the patient's psychological functioning pre- COVID. Session 2 attempts to define shared goals for the therapeutic process and creates an initial diagnostic framework to identify unprocessed or unregulated emotions. Session 3 aims to validate the intrapsychic and interpersonal resources associated with a greater degree of adaptation to the stressful situation, including: a flexible personality;positive beliefs about the self;identity roles and acceptance and commitment skills;work functioning;s solid network of friends;family/loved ones. In Sessions 4 through 6, areas of clinical concern are addressed and defense mechanisms are examined. Session 7 aims to integrate the lived experience in the cohesive narrative of the self. In Session 8, internal working models or relational patterns that have emerged during ther py closure are discussed and psychoeducation on relapse prevention is offered. Conclusion(s): We described a newly designed remote psychotherapeutic approach to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic psychological aftermath. We believe that the intervention model described here has great innovation potential in that: (1) it offers immediate psychotherapeutic support to all those who experience psychological suffering associated with COVID-19;(2) helps therapists to operate in acute and subacute settings, overcoming the barriers imposed by public health and prevention measures;and (3) contributes to study and determine the procedures by which tele-psychotherapy can be best implemented. In doing so, this treatment model could provide a blueprint for future tele-psychology wide-scale interventions.

Towards an E-Psychology Solution to Support, Intervene and Educate the Control of Emotions in Infants

Anxiety and depression in infants are a problem that is increasing, this being a consequence of the global pandemic caused by COVID-19. The current panorama indicates that infants are possible victims of suffering from these moods at very early ages and in the worst case, it becomes the leading cause of child suicide. For this reason, it is very important to seek resources and means to mitigate the situation. The current project consisted of making a web application for the control of emotions in primary school children through modules made up of theoretical sessions that cover the management of emotions, thoughts, assertiveness, frustration, breathing, and muscle relaxation. Each module in turn has an intervention session, which consists of situations that are presented to the infants with the aim of analyzing the psychological impact that the theoretical sessions had, with the main purpose of improving or intervening the control of their emotions. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Telepsychology as the primary mental health care response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines

In the Philippines, by the end of January 2020 strong mitigating measures were taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The standard procedures that were practiced before the pandemic were no longer applicable because of the quarantine and distancing protocol. Schools, churches, shopping malls, leisure centers, and private clinics, with the exception of hospitals, pharmacies, and other establishments that offer essential items and services, closed down. There was no other recourse but to use technologies to transact business and to provide services. The pandemic has triggered bio-psychosocial distress and has aggravated "eco-anxiety" among those affected by these endless calamities. Unpublished reports have revealed that the pandemic has triggered anxiety, sleeplessness, panic attacks, depression, and maladjustment. Medical and other front-line personnel are among those experiencing psychological discomforts. The author draws from his own work in providing telepsychological support and discusses profound issues related to justice and ethics. Multiple factors in the Filipino society complicate telepsychology, starting with the fact that many people have slow internet connections. The author also proposes amendments to existing policies and protocols to make telepsychology more accessible. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Telepsychology in Europe since COVID-19: How to Foster Social Telepresence?

All over the world, measures were taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Social distancing not only had a strong influence on mental health, but also on the organization of care systems. It changed existing practices, as we had to rapidly move from face-to-face contact to remote contact with patients. These changes have prompted research into the attitudes of mental healthcare professionals towards telepsychology. Several factors affect these attitudes: at the institutional and organizational level, but also the collective and personal experience of practitioners. This paper is based on an original European survey conducted by the EFPA (European Federation of Psychologists' Associations) Project Group on eHealth in 2020, which allowed to observe the variability in perceptions of telepsychology between countries and mental healthcare professionals. This study highlights different variables that contributed to the development of attitudes, such as motivations, acquired experience, or training. We found the "feeling of telepresence"-which consists of forgetting to some extent that we are at a distance, in feeling together-and social telepresence in particular as main determinants of the perception and the practice of telepsychology.

A promising future for tele-mental health in Oman: A qualitative exploration of clients and therapists' experiences.

Objectives: Tele-mental health services can play an important role in overcoming barriers in mental health services in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. However, despite its potential, tele-mental health has not been widely adopted in Oman. This study is an exploratory investigation into the experiences of therapists and their clients in utilizing video-based tele-mental health care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A total of 19 semistructured qualitative interviews were individually conducted, it included 13 adult clients with mental health conditions who received video-based tele-mental health care and six clinical psychologists who provided video-based tele-mental health care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: The clients reported favorable experiences using tele-mental health, with the primary benefits being convenience, easy accessibility to subspecialized care, reduced absenteeism from work with commuting costs, and alleviated mental health stigma. The therapists also expressed experiencing benefits from tele-mental health, such as reduced risk of intrahospital infection, reduced healthcare costs, and the achievement of work-life balance. Primary concerns were related to the lack of public tele-mental health services, lack of specified tele-mental health guidelines, shortage of trained therapists, limited access to high-speed Internet, electronic devices, privacy, and concerns toward the security of telehealth systems in general. Conclusion: Clients and therapists report that tele-mental health offers new opportunities to improve the quality of mental healthcare services in Oman, and that the challenges could be resolved by establishing governmental tele-mental health services along with developing tele-mental health guidelines and implementing local postgraduate clinical psychology programs in universities in Oman.

Telepsychology for psychotherapists: lessons learned in times of Covid-19

The necessary health measures proposed to mitigate the viral spread of SARS-CoV-2, such as physical distancing and quarantines, have had an impact not only on the mental health of the population but have also forced changes in the provision of psychological services. The present study aims to gather essential information on the concept, advantages, disadvantages, uses and recommendations of telepsychology in times of COVID-19. To this end, a systematic review of the scientific evidence available in the Scopus, PubMed and Web of Science databases was carried out. Among the results, accessibility, reduction of stigma and flexibility in its application are highlighted. Limitations such as insecurity of data privacy, access barriers and low clinical training in the competencies required for this format are also mentioned. On the other hand, favorable evidence was found for its use in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, panic and agoraphobia, generalized anxiety, and trauma. It is concluded that psychotherapeutic intervention through telepsychology, in consideration of certain recommendations and critical suggestions, can offer satisfactory results for the patient and therapist and be suitable for various age ranges and disorders. © 2022, Sociedad Interamericana de Psicologia. All rights reserved.