Digital Technologies in Client Relationships: Juxtaposing Organizational and Management Perspectives with Insights from Addiction Counseling Research

• Published in: The Journal of applied behavioral science Vol. 61; no. 2; pp. 355 - 406
• Main Authors: Waeber, Magdalena, Fohim, Emamdeen, Jacobs, Claus D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.06.2025; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Addictions; Client relationships; Conceptual models; Counseling; Digital technology; Organizational research; Organizational structure; relationship building; addiction counseling; client relationship; digitalization; professional services; literature review; digital technologies; future research agenda
• ISSN: 0021-8863; 1552-6879
• DOI: 10.1177/00218863241288987

Digitalization is fundamentally reshaping the professional–client relationship and altering how professional services are organized, delivered, and used. However, understanding successful relationship-building practices in the digital era remains underdeveloped. We aim to address this gap in the following three steps. First, we map how digital technologies affect the professional–client relationship by reviewing the generalist organizational and management literature to identify four key contextual aspects as well as eight critical themes in that regard. Second, we identify critical generic practices to orchestrate professional–client relationships by reviewing leading addiction counseling research (a domain with indicative, sophisticated, and pertinent professional–client relationships). Thirdly, we juxtapose, synthesize, and consolidate the findings of the first two steps in a conceptual model that serves as a map to outline a future research agenda. We demonstrate our reasoning and the usability of the map by outlining four key tensions for future research in that regard.