Therapists Make the Switch to Telepsychology to Safely Continue Treating Their Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Virtual Reality Telepsychology May Be Next

Before COVID-19, most therapists had concerns about telepsychology, and only treated patients in person. During the COVID-19 lockdown, patients still needed therapy, but in-person therapy sessions became unsafe. The current study measured how many therapists are using online therapy before vs. durin...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Mariana Sampaio, Maria Vicenta Navarro Haro, Bruno De Sousa, Wilson Vieira Melo, Hunter G. Hoffman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-01-01
Series:Frontiers in Virtual Reality
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frvir.2020.576421/full
id doaj-4a66a343ebd6412f8ff35abd5a9c13e0
record_format Article
spelling doaj-4a66a343ebd6412f8ff35abd5a9c13e02021-04-02T18:38:32ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Virtual Reality2673-41922021-01-01110.3389/frvir.2020.576421576421Therapists Make the Switch to Telepsychology to Safely Continue Treating Their Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Virtual Reality Telepsychology May Be NextMariana Sampaio0Mariana Sampaio1Maria Vicenta Navarro Haro2Maria Vicenta Navarro Haro3Bruno De Sousa4Wilson Vieira Melo5Hunter G. Hoffman6Hunter G. Hoffman7Department of Psychology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, PortugalDepartment of Social Work, Catholic University of Portugal, Lisbon, PortugalInstituto Aragonés de Investigaciones Sanitarias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, SpainDepartment of Psychology and Sociology, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, SpainFaculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, PortugalIndependent Researcher, Porto Alegre, BrazilDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Radiology and Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United StatesHuman Photonics Lab, Virtual Reality Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United StatesBefore COVID-19, most therapists had concerns about telepsychology, and only treated patients in person. During the COVID-19 lockdown, patients still needed therapy, but in-person therapy sessions became unsafe. The current study measured how many therapists are using online therapy before vs. during COVID-19, how much training they have received, and their knowledge about legal restrictions on using telepsychology. A sample of 768 U.S.A. mental health professionals completed a 29-item online survey. Results show that before COVID-19, most therapists only saw their patients in person (e.g., at the therapists office), but during the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all therapists used a wide range of telecommunication technologies to communicate with their quarantined patients, including texting, telephones, video conferences, and even virtual reality. According to within-subject related samples comparisons, 39% of survey respondents used telepsychology before COVID-19, vs. 98% during COVID-19 (χ2 = 450.02, p < 0.001). Therapists reported high treatment effectiveness using telepsychology (7.45 on 0–10 scale). However, overall, on a 0–10 scale, therapists reported a significant increase in feeling burned out during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mean = 3.93 (SD = 1.93) before vs. 6.22 (SD = 2.27) during the pandemic (Z = −18.57, p < 0.001). Although the APA ethics guidelines encourage therapists to use telepsychology with their patients during the crisis, gaps in respondents' knowledge identify a need for increased specialized training and education. Although the current study showed that virtual reality is rarely used by the therapists surveyed, virtual reality is a promising new telepsychology technology. Billions of dollars are currently being invested in mass producing immersive virtual reality systems. In the future, as networked immersive Virtual Reality becomes more widely available, therapists and patients in physically different locations will be able to “meet” in a shared computer-generated world designed for therapy sessions, potentially including group sessions. Telepsychology and virtual reality have the potential to be increasingly valuable tools to help therapists mitigate the consequences of COVID-19. Research, development and training is recommended.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frvir.2020.576421/fullCOVID-19virtual realitymental healthtelepsychologyburnout–professionalpsychology
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Mariana Sampaio
Mariana Sampaio
Maria Vicenta Navarro Haro
Maria Vicenta Navarro Haro
Bruno De Sousa
Wilson Vieira Melo
Hunter G. Hoffman
Hunter G. Hoffman
spellingShingle Mariana Sampaio
Mariana Sampaio
Maria Vicenta Navarro Haro
Maria Vicenta Navarro Haro
Bruno De Sousa
Wilson Vieira Melo
Hunter G. Hoffman
Hunter G. Hoffman
Therapists Make the Switch to Telepsychology to Safely Continue Treating Their Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Virtual Reality Telepsychology May Be Next
Frontiers in Virtual Reality
COVID-19
virtual reality
mental health
telepsychology
burnout–professional
psychology
author_facet Mariana Sampaio
Mariana Sampaio
Maria Vicenta Navarro Haro
Maria Vicenta Navarro Haro
Bruno De Sousa
Wilson Vieira Melo
Hunter G. Hoffman
Hunter G. Hoffman
author_sort Mariana Sampaio
title Therapists Make the Switch to Telepsychology to Safely Continue Treating Their Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Virtual Reality Telepsychology May Be Next
title_short Therapists Make the Switch to Telepsychology to Safely Continue Treating Their Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Virtual Reality Telepsychology May Be Next
title_full Therapists Make the Switch to Telepsychology to Safely Continue Treating Their Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Virtual Reality Telepsychology May Be Next
title_fullStr Therapists Make the Switch to Telepsychology to Safely Continue Treating Their Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Virtual Reality Telepsychology May Be Next
title_full_unstemmed Therapists Make the Switch to Telepsychology to Safely Continue Treating Their Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Virtual Reality Telepsychology May Be Next
title_sort therapists make the switch to telepsychology to safely continue treating their patients during the covid-19 pandemic. virtual reality telepsychology may be next
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
series Frontiers in Virtual Reality
issn 2673-4192
publishDate 2021-01-01
description Before COVID-19, most therapists had concerns about telepsychology, and only treated patients in person. During the COVID-19 lockdown, patients still needed therapy, but in-person therapy sessions became unsafe. The current study measured how many therapists are using online therapy before vs. during COVID-19, how much training they have received, and their knowledge about legal restrictions on using telepsychology. A sample of 768 U.S.A. mental health professionals completed a 29-item online survey. Results show that before COVID-19, most therapists only saw their patients in person (e.g., at the therapists office), but during the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all therapists used a wide range of telecommunication technologies to communicate with their quarantined patients, including texting, telephones, video conferences, and even virtual reality. According to within-subject related samples comparisons, 39% of survey respondents used telepsychology before COVID-19, vs. 98% during COVID-19 (χ2 = 450.02, p < 0.001). Therapists reported high treatment effectiveness using telepsychology (7.45 on 0–10 scale). However, overall, on a 0–10 scale, therapists reported a significant increase in feeling burned out during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mean = 3.93 (SD = 1.93) before vs. 6.22 (SD = 2.27) during the pandemic (Z = −18.57, p < 0.001). Although the APA ethics guidelines encourage therapists to use telepsychology with their patients during the crisis, gaps in respondents' knowledge identify a need for increased specialized training and education. Although the current study showed that virtual reality is rarely used by the therapists surveyed, virtual reality is a promising new telepsychology technology. Billions of dollars are currently being invested in mass producing immersive virtual reality systems. In the future, as networked immersive Virtual Reality becomes more widely available, therapists and patients in physically different locations will be able to “meet” in a shared computer-generated world designed for therapy sessions, potentially including group sessions. Telepsychology and virtual reality have the potential to be increasingly valuable tools to help therapists mitigate the consequences of COVID-19. Research, development and training is recommended.
topic COVID-19
virtual reality
mental health
telepsychology
burnout–professional
psychology
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frvir.2020.576421/full
work_keys_str_mv AT marianasampaio therapistsmaketheswitchtotelepsychologytosafelycontinuetreatingtheirpatientsduringthecovid19pandemicvirtualrealitytelepsychologymaybenext
AT marianasampaio therapistsmaketheswitchtotelepsychologytosafelycontinuetreatingtheirpatientsduringthecovid19pandemicvirtualrealitytelepsychologymaybenext
AT mariavicentanavarroharo therapistsmaketheswitchtotelepsychologytosafelycontinuetreatingtheirpatientsduringthecovid19pandemicvirtualrealitytelepsychologymaybenext
AT mariavicentanavarroharo therapistsmaketheswitchtotelepsychologytosafelycontinuetreatingtheirpatientsduringthecovid19pandemicvirtualrealitytelepsychologymaybenext
AT brunodesousa therapistsmaketheswitchtotelepsychologytosafelycontinuetreatingtheirpatientsduringthecovid19pandemicvirtualrealitytelepsychologymaybenext
AT wilsonvieiramelo therapistsmaketheswitchtotelepsychologytosafelycontinuetreatingtheirpatientsduringthecovid19pandemicvirtualrealitytelepsychologymaybenext
AT hunterghoffman therapistsmaketheswitchtotelepsychologytosafelycontinuetreatingtheirpatientsduringthecovid19pandemicvirtualrealitytelepsychologymaybenext
AT hunterghoffman therapistsmaketheswitchtotelepsychologytosafelycontinuetreatingtheirpatientsduringthecovid19pandemicvirtualrealitytelepsychologymaybenext
_version_ 1721551378787074048