Group teletherapy for first-episode psychosis: Piloting its integration with coordinated specialty care during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Psychol Psychother
; 94(2): 382-389, 2021 06.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-880927
ABSTRACT
Digital health has emerged in recent years as a tool to optimize care delivery and promote treatment adherence among individuals with first-episode psychosis (FEP). Recent mandates for social distancing and sheltering in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic have catapulted efforts to provide ongoing coordinated specialty care (CSC) on virtual platforms. While prior evidence provides support for the general implementation of virtual individual therapy, there is limited guidance and evidence for the adoption of group teletherapy. Here we describe our efforts to implement group teletherapy for two small cohorts of individuals with FEP receiving care in a coordinated specialty care clinic using methods adopted from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. We observed high adherence with group visits as well as client satisfaction across groups. Based on our results, we have taken efforts to implement virtual group therapy more permanently in our clinic. Our experience provides guidance and a model for integration of virtual group therapy within CSC. PRACTITIONER POINTS In-person group therapy can be adapted as an online treatment modality for individuals with first-episode psychosis (FEP). Group teletherapy is both accessible and satisfactory to individuals with FEP. Group teletherapy has potential as a more standard and widespread treatment modality within coordinated specialty care for FEP.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Psychotherapy, Group
/
Psychotic Disorders
/
Process Assessment, Health Care
/
Telemedicine
/
Delivery of Health Care, Integrated
/
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adult
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Psychol Psychother
Journal subject:
Psychology
/
Psychiatry
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Papt.12310
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