Therapeutic relationship on the web: to face or not to face?

• Published in: Trends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Vol. 36; no. 1; pp. 3 - 10
• Main Authors: Sfoggia, Ana, Kowacs, Clarice, Gastaud, Marina Bento, Laskoski, Pricilla Braga, Bassols, Ana Margareth, Severo, Charlie Trelles, Machado, Diogo, Krieger, Daniela Valle, Torres, Mariana Benetti, Teche, Stefania Pigatto, Wellausen, Rafael Stella, Eizirik, Cláudio Laks
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Portuguese
• Published: Brazil Associação de Psiquiatria do Rio Grande do Sul - Trends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy 01.01.2014; Associação de Psiquiatria do Rio Grande do Sul
• Subjects: Drug therapy; internet; PSYCHIATRY; Psychoanalysis; Psychotherapy; rede social; redes de comunicação de computadores; Technology; Terapia psicanalítica; World Wide Web; redes de comunicação de computadores; Psychoanalytic therapy; Internet, social media; rede social; computer communication networks; Terapia psicanalítica; internet
• ISSN: 2237-6089; 2238-0019; 2237-6089; 2238-0019
• DOI: 10.1590/2237-6089-2013-0048

In this age of unprecedented expansion of media and information dissemination and sharing, the use of electronic means should be reconsidered. The use of new technologies should be studied to understand how it may affect the relationship between patient and therapist during psychotherapy or psychoanalytic treatments. This study offers a critical discussion of the effect of technologies on clinical practice, and vignettes are used to describe their impact on frame, anonymity, abstinence and therapeutic neutrality. Transfer and countertransference issues resulting from these changes are also discussed. The potential benefits of new technologies in psychotherapy are appreciated, but the authors draw attention to the need to reflect about the presence of the therapist in those technologies and the preservation of the therapeutic setting, so that a satisfactory progression of the work of the dyad is ensured. This study also discusses the use of technologies in the expansion of learning and application of the therapeutic technique to overcome geographic and time barriers, among others.