Open AccessThe Experience of Family Therapists Providing an In-person Group Intervention, Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic, and Attempting to Continue with a Comparable Intervention in a Virtual Setting
Author(s) -
Miranda R. Gab
Publication year - 2020
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Dissertations/theses
DOI - 10.15760/honors.961
Subject(s) - telehealth , intervention (counseling) , psychological intervention , observational study , psychology , pandemic , telemedicine , mental health , nursing , medical education , covid-19 , medicine , health care , psychotherapist , political science , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , law
Group interventions are widely used in mental health and educational settings. Studies have shown that these groups can be conducted in either in-person or virtual settings with success, though there is limited research on the delivery of synchronous, online group interventions, particularly an in-person group intervention that abruptly transitioned to telehealth delivery due to the coronavirus. This observational research aims to tell the story of how two family therapists, who served as co-facilitators for an in-person parenting intervention, transitioned to deliver the same content virtually due to the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing upon previous and present research in the field, this thesis will connect what the family therapists learned from their direct experience of delivering a group intervention in a telehealth setting and discuss specific ways that the knowledge and implementation of telehealth formats can be strengthened.