Delivering Videocall therapy During COVID-19: Counselling Psychologists’ Experience

Abstract

Video-call therapy has been a burgeoning area of research and practice in recent years. While many therapists were already adding online modes of therapy delivery to their toolkits, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted their necessary and rapid uptake, whatever the therapist’s pre-pandemic preferences. The present study explored counselling psychologists’ experience of adapting to and using online video-call platforms to deliver therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic in Aotearoa New Zealand. Eight registered counselling psychologists in Aotearoa New Zealand were interviewed. Thematic analysis revealed four themes: (i) pre-pandemic hesitancies towards video-call therapy, (ii) managing the rapid transition to video-call therapy, (iii) integrating the learnings from the transition to video-call therapy and (iv) contextual factors. Pre-pandemic hesitancies included concerns that video-call therapy hinders the therapeutic relationship and misses subtleties. The transition process highlighted considerations around transparency and flexibility, in addition to practical considerations and peer support. Post-transition learnings included a more nuanced understanding of the shift from sharing physical space with clients to practicing from home; the mixed blessing of technology; the balancing versus merging of work- and home-life; and the impact on client progress. The fourth theme of broader contextual factors included the counselling psychology perspective, lockdown parameters, and cultural factors. Findings from this study are consistent with the literature on therapists’ experiences of video-call therapy in general and add a unique counselling psychology perspective from the context of Aotearoa New Zealand. Findings also highlight considerations for therapists who are transitioning to video-call therapy, whether by choice or necessity.