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BJP 38(1):116-135 (2022) • DOI: 10.1111/bjp.12693

Technology, Transference, and Covid-19 — with Reference to Davanloo's Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy

Authors: Catherine Hickey, James Q. Schubmehl MD, Alan Beeber MD

Catherine Hickey

17 years of experience as a clinician, educator, and researcher. She is a psychiatrist in Canada. She received her MD from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1999. In 2004, she completed a psychiatry residency at Dalhousie University. She completed a psychosomatic medicine (medical psychiatry) fellowship at Harvard University (Brigham and Women's Hospital) in 2005. She commenced a traineeship with Dr Habib Davanloo (founder of Davanloo's intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy) in 2004, and remains active in his Closed Circuit Training Workshops to this day. She is an Associate Professor at Memorial University and is involved with teaching along the continuum. She is the author of numerous peer-reviewed publications and the textbook Understanding Davanloo's Intensive Short-term Dynamic Psychotherapy: A Guide for Clinicians. She is recognized as a mentor for learners and won the Association of Chairs of Psychiatry of Canada 2019 Award for Excellence in Education.

James Q. Schubmehl MD

Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of Rochester School of Medicine. His education was at University of Notre Dame, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, and Bronx Municipal Hospital Center of Albert Einstein College of Medicine Psychiatry. He had three to seven weeks of training and supervision annually by Dr Habib Davanloo in Davanloo's intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (DISTDP) between 1984 and 2015. He has extensive clinical, administrative, and management experience in community mental health and in private practice in Bronx and Rochester, New York. From 1977 to 2018, he was the organizer and director of the Rochester Institute for DISTDP. He was on the editorial board of the from 1995 to 2003 and Co-Editor from 1998 to 1999. He currently teaches a 12-week course on DISTDP at the University of Rochester and provides weekly individual supervision for residents. He has presented in a variety of academic settings on DISTDP, including full-day courses at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an undeniable impact on the practice of psychotherapy. Many psychotherapists made a rapid decision to convert to videoconference psychotherapy (VCP) early in the pandemic, but few had effective ‘how to’ instructions in the optimal setup of a VCP practice. Many psychotherapists find VCP to be convenient, practical, and effective in working in various psychodynamic modalities. But others have complained that the true intimacy of the emotional relationship of psychotherapy is lacking on the computer screen. This article seeks to define the optimal VCP setup in a practical way. We also review the literature to date on how technology impacts psychodynamic psychotherapy in general and transference in particular. We discuss the transference from the lens of Davanloo's Intensive Short-term Dynamic Psychotherapy. We review the existing literature (both pre- and post-pandemic) on the effectiveness of VCP and note the paucity of empirical evidence (specifically randomized controlled trials) to support its use during global pandemics. Despite this lack of evidence, there seems to be enough anecdotal evidence to support that VCP is certainly better than no therapy at all, and in some cases, quite effective in maintaining the parameters of a highly charged and emotionally rich patient/therapist dyad. We support its use and anticipate future research.

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