Provision of Psychotherapy One Year after the Beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Austria

Elke Humer, Barbara Haid, Wolfgang Schimböck, Andrea Reisinger, Marion Gasser, Heidrun Eichberger-Heckmann, Peter Stippl, Christoph Pieh and Thomas Probst
Additional contact information
Elke Humer: Department for Psychotherapy and Biopsychosocial Health, Danube University Krems, 3500 Krems, Austria
Barbara Haid: Austrian Federal Association for Psychotherapy, 1030 Vienna, Austria
Wolfgang Schimböck: Austrian Federal Association for Psychotherapy, 1030 Vienna, Austria
Andrea Reisinger: Austrian Federal Association for Psychotherapy, 1030 Vienna, Austria
Marion Gasser: Austrian Federal Association for Psychotherapy, 1030 Vienna, Austria
Heidrun Eichberger-Heckmann: PROGES, 4020 Linz, Austria
Peter Stippl: Austrian Federal Association for Psychotherapy, 1030 Vienna, Austria
Christoph Pieh: Department for Psychotherapy and Biopsychosocial Health, Danube University Krems, 3500 Krems, Austria
Thomas Probst: Department for Psychotherapy and Biopsychosocial Health, Danube University Krems, 3500 Krems, Austria

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 11, 1-10

Abstract: A previous study revealed that the majority of Austrian psychotherapists switched to remote settings during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study investigated whether this change in treatment format was maintained after one year of the COVID-19 pandemic. From 16 February until 2 April 2021, a total of 238 Austrian psychotherapists completed an online survey. They were asked about the number of patients currently treated in-person, via telephone and via the internet. Psychotherapists rated three different aspects of psychotherapy (ability to actively listen to patients, ability to understand what is going on in the patients and ability to support patients emotionally) for three different formats (in-person with facemasks, telephone and internet) separately. The results show that, after one year of the pandemic, the majority (78.4%) of patients were treated in-person (compared to 21.7% during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic; p < 0.001). This change in the treatment format was accompanied by a strong increase in the total number of patients treated by 77.2% on average ( p < 0.001). Psychotherapists reported no differences between in-person psychotherapy with facemasks and psychotherapy via the internet with regard to the three investigated aspects of psychotherapy, while the surveyed aspects were rated less favorably for psychotherapy conducted via telephonic communication ( p < 0.05). Further studies are needed to investigate the reasons why most psychotherapists switched back to the in-person format with the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: psychotherapy; telephone; internet; attitudes; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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