Abstract

FEIJO, Luan Paris et al. ASSESSMENT OF PROGRESS AND OUTCOME IN ONLINE PSYCHODYNAMIC PSYCHOTHERAPY IN PATIENTS WITH SYMPTOMS OF ANXIETY. Psicol. clin. [online]. 2023, vol.35, n.2, pp.385-405.  Epub Aug 23, 2024. ISSN 0103-5665.  https://doi.org/10.33208/pc1980-5438v0035n02a08.

In Brazil, the practice of online psychotherapy by psychologists has recently been regulated and, at the moment, there have been no investigations that sought to comprehend the process-outcome of this treatment modality. This study aimed to contribute to fill this gap, by examining the process of change in psychodynamic-oriented treatments. The aim was to describe the trajectory of symptoms and estimate the clinically significant and reliable change index (RCI) in the general psychological distress and its dimensions (well-being, social and personal functioning, psychological complaints and symptoms, and risk behavior) throughout the psychotherapy of six patients with symptoms of anxiety. The treatments consisted of 24 sessions and were conducted by three psychoanalytic psychotherapists. This was a naturalistic and longitudinal study through systematic case studies. The CORE-OM (psychological distress) and GAD-7 (anxiety) were applied in all sessions. The GAD-7 was also applied pre- and post-treatment and during the follow-up (at three months). Data analysis was descriptive and the RCI was calculated for each case. The results showed that, for 5 of the 6 patients, there were clinically significant and reliable changes in the symptoms of anxiety and in the well-being, social and personal functioning, psychological complaints and symptoms, and risk behavior domains, which were maintained in the follow-up period. These findings reiterate the evidence found in international studies that online psychotherapy is effective in treating anxiety symptoms and indicate that psychodynamic psychotherapies produce global and stable changes, at least in the short term. Clinical implications and suggestions for future studies are presented.

Keywords : internet; online psychotherapy; anxiety; outcome research; systematic case study.

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