David Yellin Academic College, Israel.
Western Galilee Academic College, Israel.
Health (London). 2024 May;28(3):470-486. doi: 10.1177/13634593231156811. Epub 2023 Mar 13.
Teletherapy, namely, therapy that uses technology for communication between patients and therapists, is challenged by the impersonal nature of remote and digital communication. Using Merleau-Ponty's theoretical concept of intercorporeality, which refers to the perceived reciprocity between two people's bodies during communication, this article aims to elaborate on spiritual caregivers' experience of interacting with patients during teletherapy. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 Israeli spiritual caregivers who use various forms of teletherapy (Zoom, FaceTime, phone calls, WhatsApp messages, etc.). Interviewees emphasized their physical presence with the patient as a main principle in spiritual care. They indicated the involvement of nearly all senses in physical presence therapy, which allows for joint attention and compassionate presence. When making use of various communication technologies in teletherapy, they reported the involvement of fewer senses. The more senses involved in the session and the clearer it is that space and time are shared by both caregiver and patient, the stronger the caregiver's presence with the patient. Interviewees experienced teletherapy as eroding the multisensory joint attention and intercorporeality and, hence, the quality of care. This article points at the advantages of teletherapy for therapists in general and spiritual caregivers in particular but claims, nonetheless, that it challenges the main principles of therapy. Joint attention in therapy is, fundamentally, a multisensory phenomenon that may be understood as intercorporeality. Our use of the notion of intercorporeality sheds light on the reduction of the senses involved in remote interpersonal communication and its impact on care and, more generally, the interpersonal communication experienced during telemedicine. This article's findings may also contribute to the field of cyberpsychology and to therapists engaged in telepsychology.
远程治疗，即利用技术在患者和治疗师之间进行沟通的治疗，受到远程和数字通信的非人性化性质的挑战。本文运用梅洛-庞蒂的主体间性理论概念，该概念指的是两个人在交流过程中身体之间的感知相互性，旨在详细阐述精神关怀者在远程治疗中与患者互动的体验。对 15 名以色列精神关怀者进行了半结构化深度访谈，他们使用各种形式的远程治疗（Zoom、FaceTime、电话、WhatsApp 消息等）。受访者强调他们在精神关怀中与患者保持身体在场是一个主要原则。他们指出，身体在场治疗涉及几乎所有感官，这允许共同关注和同情在场。当在远程治疗中使用各种沟通技术时，他们报告说涉及的感官较少。在治疗过程中涉及的感官越多，并且空间和时间明显由护理人员和患者共享，护理人员与患者的在场感就越强。受访者体验到远程治疗侵蚀了多感官共同关注和主体间性，从而影响了护理质量。本文指出了远程治疗对治疗师的一般优势，特别是对精神关怀者的优势，但声称它确实挑战了治疗的主要原则。治疗中的共同关注从根本上说是一种多感官现象，可以理解为主体间性。我们对主体间性概念的运用揭示了远程人际沟通中涉及的感官减少及其对护理的影响，更普遍地说，揭示了远程医疗中体验到的人际沟通。本文的发现也可能有助于网络心理学领域和从事远程心理治疗的治疗师。
