Between Presence and Distance: Patients' Experiences of Therapist Connection in Internet Administrated Psychodynamic Therapy for Somatic Symptom Disorder.
Psychodynamic therapies emphasize the healing potential of emotional awareness and relational presence. In online therapy, the therapist's presence becomes transformed - mediated by written words and digital distance. This exploratory qualitative study examined how participants with Somatic Symptom...
| Publicado en: | Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy Vol. 56; no. 3; pp. 265 - 271 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , |
| Formato: | research Journal Article |
| Publicado: |
Springer Nature
Sep2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=196758025&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 196758025 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 00220116 41I jtl: Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy issn: 00220116 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Sep2026 vid: 56 iid: 3 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature place: New York, New York artinfo: ui: 196758025 191831593 196758025 196758025 10.1007/s10879-026-09720-1 196758025 ppf: 265 ppct: 6 formats: tig: atl: Between Presence and Distance: Patients' Experiences of Therapist Connection in Internet Administrated Psychodynamic Therapy for Somatic Symptom Disorder. aug: au: von Below, Camilla Hagfeldt, Klara Hallonlöf, Veronica Lilliengren, Peter Maroti, Daniel affil: https://ror.org/05f0yaq80 Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden sug: subj: Patient Attitudes Evaluation Psychotherapy, Psychodynamic Methods Internet-Based Intervention Methods Emotions Professional-Client Relations Human Descriptive Statistics Qualitative Studies Exploratory Research Semi-Structured Interview Thematic Analysis Motivation Patient Autonomy Social Isolation Emotional Regulation ab: Psychodynamic therapies emphasize the healing potential of emotional awareness and relational presence. In online therapy, the therapist's presence becomes transformed - mediated by written words and digital distance. This exploratory qualitative study examined how participants with Somatic Symptom Disorder (SSD) experienced therapist presence versus absence in Internet-based Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (I-EAET), an online psychodynamic treatment designed to help patients engage with avoided emotions linked to physical symptoms. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten participants who had completed either a guided or unguided version of I-EAET as part of a randomized controlled trial. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The participants described that therapist contact was experienced as both supportive and limited: written guidance provided containment, motivation, and validation, but there was an absence of immediacy and emotional resonance. Working without a therapist was described as fostering autonomy and self-reflection, yet often evoked feelings of isolation. Across conditions, participants described a movement between dependence and independence, containment and solitude. Clinical implications include tailoring the level of therapist involvement to patients' relational needs and emotion-regulation capacities. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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