Video counselling and psychotherapy : a critical commentary on the evidence base

Smith, K; Moller, N; Cooper, M; Gabriel, L; Roddy, JK; Sheehy, R

Abstract

Pre‐pandemic research has suggested that video counselling is as effective as face‐to‐face practice. However, the mass migration of therapy to the online video domain as a result of the COVID‐19 pandemic makes it essential to interrogate the evidence base. This paper provides a critical commentary on how video therapy is defined/labelled, the current evidence about whether video therapy is effective, and whether the working alliance and therapeutic relationship functions differently in video counselling. The paper concludes that while the evidence to date is promising, it is limited in quantity and applicability and hence generalisability. Lack of evidence is not evidence that video therapy is ineffective, but the large gaps in understanding highlight the importance, both ethically and empirically, of further research in this area.

Citation

Smith, K., Moller, N., Cooper, M., Gabriel, L., Roddy, J., & Sheehy, R. (2022). Video counselling and psychotherapy : a critical commentary on the evidence base. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 22(1), 92-97. https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12436

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 2, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jun 25, 2021
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2022
• Deposit Date: Jun 28, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 28, 2021
• Journal: Counselling and Psychotherapy Research
• Print ISSN: 1473-3145
• Electronic ISSN: 1746-1405
• Publisher: Wiley
• Volume: 22
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 92-97
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12436
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12436
• Related Public URLs: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/%28ISSN%291746-1405
• Additional Information: Additional Information : ** Article version: VoR ** From Wiley via Jisc Publications Router ** Licence for VoR version of this article: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ **Journal IDs: issn 1473-3145; issn 1746-1405 **Article IDs: publisher-id: capr12436 **History: published 25-06-2021; accepted 02-06-2021; rev-recd 01-06-2021; submitted 06-05-2021