Evaluations issued by Members of the Psychology Profession in Costa Rica on their Therapeutic Skills and Techniques for Practicing Individual Clinical Psychotherapy by means of Information and Communication Technologies During the COVID-19 Pandemic.v42i01.04Abstract
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, the virtualization of psychological care grew rapidly in Costa Rica, parallel to the expansion of regulation for this modality in the Colegio de Profesionales en Psicología de Costa Rica.
The objective of this article is to identify the appraisals of Costa Rican psychology professionals regarding their abilities to practice individual clinical psychotherapy by means of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Through the completion of a self-administered online questionnaire, professionals were consulted about the strategies, tools and skills that they put into play during the use of ICTs in their psychotherapeutic practice, narrating deeply important experiences, presenting key learnings and above all, making visible the absence of a consensus and clarity regarding the best practices for use in this modality. The main recommendation emanating from this process is to promote to the maximum continuing-education on the topic of therapist skills, especially those that may not be used regularly during a remote consultation, such as observation and comprehensive clinical examination.
Keywords: Best Practices; Therapy-oriented Telepsychology; Therapist Skills; Virtualization in Psychotherapy.