Reduced therapeutic skill in teletherapy versus in‐person therapy: The role of non‐verbal communication

Abstract

AbstractObjectivesTherapists have experienced unique challenges and reported reduced competency when delivering teletherapy compared with in‐person therapy. This study aimed to examine the association between therapists' non‐verbal communication abilities and perceived skills in teletherapy.MethodsUsing a geographically diverse sample of 323 therapists, we assessed therapists' perceived skills in teletherapy and in‐person therapy and calculated the relative skills by subtracting one rating from the other. We performed multivariate regressions to explore whether and how therapists' non‐verbal communication abilities (i.e., emotion recognition ability, non‐verbal emotional expressiveness and affective communication) were associated with their perceived skills in teletherapy and in‐person therapy as well as the relative skills in teletherapy versus in‐person therapy.ResultsNon‐verbal emotional expressiveness and affective communication were positively associated with therapists' perceived skills in teletherapy. Therapists with stronger non‐verbal emotional expressiveness perceived their skills as relatively less reduced in teletherapy versus in‐person therapy compared to those with poorer non‐verbal emotional expressiveness.ConclusionMore research and training are needed to address the unique challenges in teletherapy, particularly around the ability to express emotions and facilitate non‐verbal communication.