There's an interesting article in yesterday's New York Times about the practice of therapy by remote, technological set up.
What struck me about the article was this snippet:
"Basically, doctors can do, surprisingly, almost everything," said Don McBeath, the director of telemedicine and rural health at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock. "The difference is they can't touch you or smell you."
Dr. Gibson said the lack of smelling and touching, at least when it comes to psychiatry, has proved to be a good thing. Being physically in the presence of another human being, she said, can be overwhelming, with an avalanche of sensory data that can distract patient and doctor alike without either being aware of it.
"Initially we all said, 'Well, of course it would be better to be there in person,' " she said. "But some people with trauma, or who have been abused, are actually more comfortable. I'm less intimidating at a distance."
This is completely counter to what I would have expected. To me, it would seem that therapy would be more effective in person. I was surprised to find that some patients and clinicians actually prefer remote counseling to face-to-face.
1 comments:
I agree with the statement that psychotherapy in received person has its advantages over psychotherapy received from a distance due to the human contact involved. In particular some patients are in a situation to need therapy due of lack of comforting human contact and social support. According to psychoanalysis this is where trouble might appear, because the patient might replace the lost loved object with the charming psychotherapist. In my opinion psychotherapy received from a distance can have its advantages, due to the fact that it is less personal, it is less of a contact between two human beings, and it is more focused on resolving a particular problem. It might be easier for a person to talk abut intimate issues if none is looking at them, or none can see the expression on their face. Also at times people don’t want to be seen entering a psychiatrist or mental health clinician’s office due to stigma associated with mental illness. And often people are feeling to depress, or scared to get out of their houses and go to a doctor. Another disadvantage of psychotherapy in person is that the therapist might not be a ware of the actual condition and the reactions of the patient.
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