Cipolletta-etal2017

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Cipolletta-etal2017
BibType ARTICLE
Key Cipolletta-etal2017
Author(s) Sabrina Cipolletta, Eleonora Frassoni, Elena Faccio
Title Construing a therapeutic relationship online: An analysis of videoconference sessions
Editor(s)
Tag(s) EMCA, Therapy, Videoconferencing, Professional relationships
Publisher
Year 2018
Language English
City
Month
Journal Clinical Psychologist
Volume 22
Number 2
Pages 220–229
URL Link
DOI 10.1111/cp.12117
ISBN
Organization
Institution
School
Type
Edition
Series
Howpublished
Book title
Chapter

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Abstract

Objective The aim of this study is to investigate the elements that characterize the formation of a therapeutic relationship when the sessions are conducted through videoconference.

Method Conversation analysis was used to analyse the first three counselling sessions with five clients, for a total of 15 sessions.

Results The phenomena detected in the conversational sequences dealt with the following issues: starting up (early definition of the problem, motivation to use a communication technology, and therapeutic rules), technological ruptures (interruptions and multimedia repair), environment, privacy, and going beyond videoconferencing, such as inter-session contact and moving from videoconferencing to face-to-face meetings. The analysis of relational asymmetries also highlighted the relational dominance of the therapist. A series of these phenomena could be ascribed to the online modality; other ones are common in face-to-face sessions. The frequent request to integrate online sessions with face-to-face sessions might indicate that online psychotherapy is seen as a complement to face-to-face psychotherapy more than as a substitute for it.

Conclusions The potential of online psychotherapy is still underestimated and further studies should be conducted on the specificities of the computer-mediated communication within the therapeutic relationship.

Notes