How the COVID-19 Pandemic Affects the Provision of Psychotherapy: Results from Three Online Surveys on Austrian Psychotherapists
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Measures
2.1.1. Sociodemographic Variables
2.1.2. Number of Patients Treated and Psychotherapeutic Format
2.1.3. Effects of the Pandemic on Psychotherapeutic Work and Wishes for Support with Professional Activities
2.2. Statistical Analyses
2.3. Content Analyses
3. Results
3.1. Study Sample Characteristics
3.2. Changes in the Total Number of Patients
3.3. Changes in Treatment Format
3.4. Free-Text Answers on Experienced Changes in Psychotherapeutic Work
“Patients, after periods of doubt, enjoyed online psychotherapy very much, and the effect is 100% equal to that in face-to-face”.(Case 329)
“I found the therapeutic work via Zoom much more exhausting and less effective than face-to-face contact. Some interventions were not possible via Zoom”.(Case 410)
“My facial expressions are missed by the clients; eating disorders are recognized much later, hiding behind the mask”.(Case 38)
“I have noticed a massive deterioration in depressed and eating disordered clients and increased stress in very young people who were previously completely free of symptoms”.(Case 153)
“The simultaneousness of the shared experience, but with very different attitudes towards them, sometimes caused anger against patients, e.g., when they worried about compulsory tests for skiing or about measures and vaccinations in general. To always maintain professional restraint in such cases was almost equivalent to self-harm for me over time“.(Case 475)
“At the beginning, I had big financial losses. Currently, it has decreased, but I have at least 3–5 cancellations per week”.(Case 136)
“Due to wearing a mask, loss of mimic for expressing emotions. On the other hand, stress reduction for clients with personality disorders… dissociative symptoms”.(Case 256)
“More bonding with the clients “we are all in the same boat”.(Case 149)
3.5. Free-Text Answers on Wishes for Support in Psychotherapeutic Work
“I feel that, for financial reasons, patients only seek psychotherapy when the subjective sense of a disorder is already very severe. Many clients for whom psychotherapy would be essential cannot yet afford it“.(Case 353)
“Exchange forums for dealing with the current situation“.(Case 179)
“Keynotes or something similar on current topics (cross-school networking) (e.g., dealing with the pandemic), easy and low-threshold access possible especially via the use of video telephony”.(Case 234)
“More exchange and cohesion instead of competition”.(Case 344)
“A contact to which one can turn, for example, regarding newly prescribed measures. ÖBVP and VÖPP were and are only of limited help”.(Case 102)
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Variable | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | Statistics |
---|---|---|---|---|
(n = 1547) | (n = 238) | (n = 510) | ||
Gender | ||||
Female, % (n) | 75.7% (1171) | 76.9% (183) | 80.6% (411) | χ2 (4) = 13.84 |
Male, % (n) | 24.3% (376) | 22.7% (54) | 19.4% (99) | p = 0.008 |
Diverse, % (n) | 0 | 0.4% (1) | 0 | |
Age in years, M (SD) | 51.67 (9.69) | 50.97 (9.88) | 53.03 (9.94) | F(2;95.37) = 4.87; p = 0.008 |
Years in the profession, M (SD) * | 11.19 (9.20) | 12.10 (9.70) | 12.40 (9.90) | F(2;88.60) = 3.59; p = 0.028 |
Orientation | ||||
Psychodynamic, % (n) | 20.9% (324) | 16.4% (39) | 20.8% (106) | χ2 (8) = 15.74; |
Humanistic, % (n) | 46.3% (716) | 50.8% (121) | 46.9% (239) | p = 0.046 |
Systemic, % (n) | 22.0% (340) | 20.2% (48) | 22.7% (116) | |
Behavioral, % (n) | 9.8% (151) | 8.8% (21) | 8.2% (42) | |
Others, % (n) | 1.0% (16) | 3.8% (9) | 1.4% (7) |
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Winter, S.; Jesser, A.; Probst, T.; Schaffler, Y.; Kisler, I.-M.; Haid, B.; Pieh, C.; Humer, E. How the COVID-19 Pandemic Affects the Provision of Psychotherapy: Results from Three Online Surveys on Austrian Psychotherapists. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 1961. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20031961
Winter S, Jesser A, Probst T, Schaffler Y, Kisler I-M, Haid B, Pieh C, Humer E. How the COVID-19 Pandemic Affects the Provision of Psychotherapy: Results from Three Online Surveys on Austrian Psychotherapists. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2023; 20(3):1961. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20031961
Chicago/Turabian StyleWinter, Stefanie, Andrea Jesser, Thomas Probst, Yvonne Schaffler, Ida-Maria Kisler, Barbara Haid, Christoph Pieh, and Elke Humer. 2023. "How the COVID-19 Pandemic Affects the Provision of Psychotherapy: Results from Three Online Surveys on Austrian Psychotherapists" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20, no. 3: 1961. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20031961