The experiences of marriage and family therapists balancing relational teletherapy and self-care during the COVID-19 pandemic: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many changes to the world of mental health, especially in the delivery that marriage and family therapists provide services to their clients and while balancing their own self-care. In order to provide therapists with a base from which to work through these changes, a thorough review of the literature is provided as well as an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Chapter one provides an introduction to the topic of relational teletherapy during the COVID-19 pandemic and self-care for therapists, defines the terms teletherapy and self-care, and clarifies the conceptual frameworks at use in the dissertation ecological systems theory. Chapter two is a review of peer-reviewed literature on relational teletherapy and self-care practices for marriage and family therapists. There is a focus on teletherapy provided during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially during the initial shift from face to face services. Chapter three is an interpretative phenomenological analysis that answers the question how has the shift and practice of teletherapy impacted marriage and family therapists professional therapeutic work and personal self-care practices through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic? Chapter four provides the four themes and twelve sub themes that emerged from the eleven participants' experiences in this study. Chapter five is a discussion of the research findings among the themes, implications, limitations within this study, a call for future research, and conclusion of findings from this study. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)