Research digest: psychological interventions via telephone and Internet

This edition’s digest pulls together research into the remote delivery of psychotherapy, online or by phone. It includes an outcome study of Internet-based psychodynamic psychotherapy for adolescents experiencing depression (Lindqvist et al., 2020); a qualitative exploration of the experiences of Singaporean primary school children accessing counselling via a live chat portal (Kit, Teo, Tan & Park, 2019); and a feasibility study of a group videoconferencing intervention for parents of children with a life-threatening illness (Rayner et al., 2016). It also includes studies examining clinicians’ experiences of using remote technology to deliver therapy (Cipolletta & Mocellin, 2018), including those who are psychoanalytically orientated (Trub & Magaldi, 2017). Two further articles are concerned with developing, or training clinicians to offer, remote therapeutic interventions for people living in rural areas, with little access to therapeutic services (Duncan, Velasquez & Nelson, 2014; McCord, Saenz, Armstrong & Elliott, 2015).

Since many therapists are having to change and adapt practices to deliver remote psychotherapy in the absence of formal training or research, we have also included a paper offering theoretical ideas and observations on offering psychoanalysis via videoconference (Gutiérrez, 2017). In addition, we include a review of the literature on ‘psychological telehealth’ (Perle & Nierenberg, 2013), a systematic review of studies comparing telephone and face-to-face therapy (Irvine et al., 2020), and a rapid review of the evidence on the psychological impact of quarantine (Brooks et al., 2020). All of these may be particularly informative for clinicians needing to react and adapt quickly to remote working with children and families under lockdown.

Finally, a helpful review of current evidence relating to the virtual and digital delivery of interventions for children and young people (Jack Martin et al., 2020) published by the Early Intervention Foundation, ca