Abstract
The use of technology in healthcare became a prevailing necessity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sanitary services oriented in mental health broadened their way of interaction due to the increase in the need for these services. Healthcare professionals had to develop different learning skills and adapt their abilities to the virtual clinical practice through a digital interface, where communication represented the biggest challenge. The objective of the study was to identify the different adjustments, especially in the communication skills, made by those who provide psychological services by the Virtual Clinic in Psychology and others and clinical psychologists. The authors considered adequate qualitative methodology for the study with an exploratory, descriptive design. The data gathering tool was a semi-structured interview and the word analysis method. The participants are professors that provide psychological care in the Virtual Clinic in Psychology of a nonprofit institution of higher education in Mexico and professionals providing mental health attention.
TopIntroduction
Technology-mediated psychological care was one of the mental health services that increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, two fundamental elements generated this increase, on the one hand, the restriction of face-to-face encounters indicated that using telepsychology was the only way to access this care and on the other hand the increase of adverse reactions to mental health as an effect of the feelings of uncertainty and fear generated by the news of the pandemic. It is important to differentiate social distancing, proposed by health authorities as a protection strategy, with social isolation, which is the separation of a human being from a social reference group. For Argüero-Fonseca and collaborators (2021) the lack of interaction of the person with the environment (social and physical) prevents psychological restoration, i.e. recovery from the cognitive and emotional wear of daily stresses is not generated.
Mental health professionals who maintained their clinical practice had to migrate to online care, with or without previous training, making the necessary technical and methodological adjustments to offer psychological care mediated by technology or telepsychology. In this sense, it is relevant to identify the adaptation that mental health professionals made in their clinical practice to provide virtual care and which communication and interaction strategies with their patients they consider the most efficient.
The model of interaction in telepsychology proposed in this chapter was developed with the work experience of the authors in the Virtual Psychology Clinic and with the analysis of the experiences of the mental health professionals who participated in this study, which were expressed in the questionnaire and in the interviews conducted, which are presented in the results section.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Telepsychology: A method used to provide psychological services using technology, like computers, apps, internet, etc.
Mental Health Professionals: Is an individual that provides a service to improve the mental health condition of another individual. In this case it can be a psychologist or neuropsychologist.
Therapeutic Framework: It is the contract or boundaries used during the therapeutic process. It usually covers appointments, limits of confidentiality, costs, logistics, etc.
Digital Interphase: It is known as the medium of communication between a human being and a computer. In this chapter it is used to describe the application used to establish communication with the patient.
Virtual Clinic: An online service provided for individuals who want to get mental health attention, it has a well-established process in order to keep it formal and efficient.
Social Distancing: Is the space between people, it is to avoid gatherings, or to interact with people that do not live with you. It is an intervention used around the globe to prevent health issues like COVID-19.
Therapeutic Relationship: Is an interactive relationship between patient and mental health professional. It has boundaries, and it is positive for both parties.
Communication Skills: Skills that allow individuals to give and receive information, some communication skills are active listening, friendliness, confidence, sharing feedback, etc.