Meeting the Practice Challenges of COVID-19: MSW Students ’ Perceptions of E-Therapy and the Therapeutic Alliance

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic prompted a radical shift in social work practice. Overnight, social work intervention models provided in-person gave way to the utilization of Information and Communication Technologies to facilitate direct practice in virtual environments (e-therapy). Social work ’s slow acceptance of e-therapy prior to the pandemic resulted in a lack of training for many social work practitioners and MSW student interns, who were required to make rapid transitions to using and operating in online environments. It appears likely that e-therapy will continue after the COVID -19 pandemic subsides, so integrating education about effective e-therapy techniques into social work curricula seems like a logical next step. A social worker’s ability to establish the therapeutic alliance, which is at the heart of all helping relationships, will be central to this curricula. Un derstanding social work students’ perceptions of e-therapy and the therapeutic alliance can help shape the development of this new curriculum. Using internal student email, students at two Research I universities were invited to participate in a fully online anonymous survey dealing with attitudes towards e-therapy and the therapeutic alliance. Surveys were conducted in 2018 and April–May 2020. Survey questions were based on the only prior comprehensive study of student attitudes towards e-therapy (Finn in J Soc Work Educ 38(3), 403–419.https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2002.10779107,2002). ...
Source: Clinical Social Work Journal - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research