Exploring the Question: “Does Empathy Work in the Same Way in Online and In-Person Therapeutic Settings?”
Providing remote psychotherapy using technology is a growing practice, especially since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even if in numerous studies video conferencing psychotherapy (VCP) was found to be clinically effective, some doubts continue to exist about how the psychotherapeutic allian...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-09-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.671790/full |
| _version_ | 1818589065716432896 |
|---|---|
| author | Raffaele Sperandeo Valeria Cioffi Lucia Luciana Mosca Teresa Longobardi Enrico Moretto Yari Mirko Alfano Cristiano Scandurra Benedetta Muzii Daniela Cantone Carmela Guerriera Marco Architravo Nelson Mauro Maldonato |
| author_facet | Raffaele Sperandeo Valeria Cioffi Lucia Luciana Mosca Teresa Longobardi Enrico Moretto Yari Mirko Alfano Cristiano Scandurra Benedetta Muzii Daniela Cantone Carmela Guerriera Marco Architravo Nelson Mauro Maldonato |
| author_sort | Raffaele Sperandeo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Providing remote psychotherapy using technology is a growing practice, especially since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even if in numerous studies video conferencing psychotherapy (VCP) was found to be clinically effective, some doubts continue to exist about how the psychotherapeutic alliance works in the online setting, and the characteristics of the empathic process are still poorly understood. This is an exploratory study aimed at analyzing the degree of empathy between the psychotherapist and client pair, and the degree of support perceived by the client who shall be referred to as the patient interchangeably in this study, comparing the sessions in person with those online, during the current pandemic, in order to discriminate the impact of empathy in the digital setting. The sample analyzed was composed of 23 patients with different severity of pathology engaged in online and in-person therapeutic sessions with five psychotherapists of different theoretical leanings. The scores of the support and empathy scale, obtained by both members of the psychotherapeutic couple in the two settings, were analyzed and compared. The test used belongs to an Italian adaptation of the Empathic Understanding (EU) of the Relationship Inventory. What emerged from comparing the scores was interesting: Unlike the psychotherapists, the patients perceived their therapists as significantly more empathic and supportive in the remote setting. These are rather important data, because the literature documents that client empathic perception measures represent a more accurate measure of the empathic relationship and, in general, can predict a good treatment outcome. Although these results need further investigation, they represent an important contribution in filling the scientific gap in the understanding of digital empathy. Also, this study provides new insights for future research on the characteristics and impact empathy has on the practice of remote psychotherapy. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T09:34:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bcc067484ef344afb5fccfa0487e2818 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T09:34:44Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-bcc067484ef344afb5fccfa0487e28182022-12-21T22:36:26ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782021-09-011210.3389/fpsyg.2021.671790671790Exploring the Question: “Does Empathy Work in the Same Way in Online and In-Person Therapeutic Settings?”Raffaele Sperandeo0Valeria Cioffi1Lucia Luciana Mosca2Teresa Longobardi3Enrico Moretto4Yari Mirko Alfano5Cristiano Scandurra6Benedetta Muzii7Daniela Cantone8Carmela Guerriera9Marco Architravo10Nelson Mauro Maldonato11Postgraduate School of Integrated Gestalt Psychotherapy, Torre Annunziata, ItalyPostgraduate School of Integrated Gestalt Psychotherapy, Torre Annunziata, ItalyPostgraduate School of Integrated Gestalt Psychotherapy, Torre Annunziata, ItalyPostgraduate School of Integrated Gestalt Psychotherapy, Torre Annunziata, ItalyPostgraduate School of Integrated Gestalt Psychotherapy, Torre Annunziata, ItalyPostgraduate School of Integrated Gestalt Psychotherapy, Torre Annunziata, ItalyDepartment of Neurosciences and Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, ItalyDepartment of Humanistic Studies, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, ItalyPostgraduate School of Integrated Gestalt Psychotherapy, Torre Annunziata, ItalyDepartment of Neurosciences and Reproductive and Odontostomatological Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, ItalyProviding remote psychotherapy using technology is a growing practice, especially since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even if in numerous studies video conferencing psychotherapy (VCP) was found to be clinically effective, some doubts continue to exist about how the psychotherapeutic alliance works in the online setting, and the characteristics of the empathic process are still poorly understood. This is an exploratory study aimed at analyzing the degree of empathy between the psychotherapist and client pair, and the degree of support perceived by the client who shall be referred to as the patient interchangeably in this study, comparing the sessions in person with those online, during the current pandemic, in order to discriminate the impact of empathy in the digital setting. The sample analyzed was composed of 23 patients with different severity of pathology engaged in online and in-person therapeutic sessions with five psychotherapists of different theoretical leanings. The scores of the support and empathy scale, obtained by both members of the psychotherapeutic couple in the two settings, were analyzed and compared. The test used belongs to an Italian adaptation of the Empathic Understanding (EU) of the Relationship Inventory. What emerged from comparing the scores was interesting: Unlike the psychotherapists, the patients perceived their therapists as significantly more empathic and supportive in the remote setting. These are rather important data, because the literature documents that client empathic perception measures represent a more accurate measure of the empathic relationship and, in general, can predict a good treatment outcome. Although these results need further investigation, they represent an important contribution in filling the scientific gap in the understanding of digital empathy. Also, this study provides new insights for future research on the characteristics and impact empathy has on the practice of remote psychotherapy.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.671790/fullvideo conferencing psychotherapydigital empathyelectronic-based therapytelepsychologyremote clinical psychologyonline therapeutic settings |
| spellingShingle | Raffaele Sperandeo Valeria Cioffi Lucia Luciana Mosca Teresa Longobardi Enrico Moretto Yari Mirko Alfano Cristiano Scandurra Benedetta Muzii Daniela Cantone Carmela Guerriera Marco Architravo Nelson Mauro Maldonato Exploring the Question: “Does Empathy Work in the Same Way in Online and In-Person Therapeutic Settings?” Frontiers in Psychology video conferencing psychotherapy digital empathy electronic-based therapy telepsychology remote clinical psychology online therapeutic settings |
| title | Exploring the Question: “Does Empathy Work in the Same Way in Online and In-Person Therapeutic Settings?” |
| title_full | Exploring the Question: “Does Empathy Work in the Same Way in Online and In-Person Therapeutic Settings?” |
| title_fullStr | Exploring the Question: “Does Empathy Work in the Same Way in Online and In-Person Therapeutic Settings?” |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring the Question: “Does Empathy Work in the Same Way in Online and In-Person Therapeutic Settings?” |
| title_short | Exploring the Question: “Does Empathy Work in the Same Way in Online and In-Person Therapeutic Settings?” |
| title_sort | exploring the question does empathy work in the same way in online and in person therapeutic settings |
| topic | video conferencing psychotherapy digital empathy electronic-based therapy telepsychology remote clinical psychology online therapeutic settings |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.671790/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT raffaelesperandeo exploringthequestiondoesempathyworkinthesamewayinonlineandinpersontherapeuticsettings AT valeriacioffi exploringthequestiondoesempathyworkinthesamewayinonlineandinpersontherapeuticsettings AT lucialucianamosca exploringthequestiondoesempathyworkinthesamewayinonlineandinpersontherapeuticsettings AT teresalongobardi exploringthequestiondoesempathyworkinthesamewayinonlineandinpersontherapeuticsettings AT enricomoretto exploringthequestiondoesempathyworkinthesamewayinonlineandinpersontherapeuticsettings AT yarimirkoalfano exploringthequestiondoesempathyworkinthesamewayinonlineandinpersontherapeuticsettings AT cristianoscandurra exploringthequestiondoesempathyworkinthesamewayinonlineandinpersontherapeuticsettings AT benedettamuzii exploringthequestiondoesempathyworkinthesamewayinonlineandinpersontherapeuticsettings AT danielacantone exploringthequestiondoesempathyworkinthesamewayinonlineandinpersontherapeuticsettings AT carmelaguerriera exploringthequestiondoesempathyworkinthesamewayinonlineandinpersontherapeuticsettings AT marcoarchitravo exploringthequestiondoesempathyworkinthesamewayinonlineandinpersontherapeuticsettings AT nelsonmauromaldonato exploringthequestiondoesempathyworkinthesamewayinonlineandinpersontherapeuticsettings |