https://doi.org/10.4081/ripppo.2020.501
Online Supportive Group as social intervention to face COVID lockdown. A qualitative study on psychotherapists, psychology trainees and students, and community people
Submitted: September 28, 2020
Accepted: December 1, 2020
Published: January 20, 2021
Accepted: December 1, 2020
Abstract Views: 1743
PDF: 944
HTML: 20
HTML: 20
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Authors
Several psychological interventions have been activated to help people during the coronavirus pandemic, and research highlights the crucial role of group interventions as a space for sharing and processing the psychological experiences linked to this emergency and the consequent changes in people’s lifestyles. In this context, psychologists are mostly providers of this kind of service more than users. This study aimed at investigating and comparing post-hoc the subjective experience of psychotherapists, psychology trainees and students, and individuals of the general population who participated in a psychodynamically-oriented supportive group intervention. Fifty-two subjects were enrolled to participate to focus groups aimed at exploring participants’ decision to participate, their perceptions on how the support group influenced their elaboration of the psychological effects of pandemic/lockdown, and their feedback on its utility. Transcripts of the focus groups were analyzed with the Linguistic Inquiry Word Count (LIWC). Differences in the use of words/linguistic categories between groups were tested through chi-square tests. Content analysis was conducted by independent judges who extracted the most relevant comments. Preliminary results showed the main features related to the crisis response, and how belonging to different social roles was associated with different ways of experiencing and sharing emotions. People react in different ways to traumatic events, and how people react may say a lot about how they cope with the event and the extent to which the event plays a role in the future. Clinical implications on the use of this data for future treatment planning are also discussed.
Aafjes-van Doorn, K., Békés, V., Prout, T. A., & Hoffman, L. (2020). Psychotherapists’ vicarious traumatization during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. 12 (S1), S148-S150.
Abdo, M. S., Alghonaim, A. S., & Essam, B. A. (2020). Public perception of COVID-19’s global health crisis on Twitter until 14 weeks after the outbreak. Digital Scholarship in the Humanities.
Agosti, A., & Rellini, A. (2007). The Italian LIWC dictionary. Technical report, LIWC. net, Austin, TX. Available from: http://liwc.wpengine.com/
Barrett, D. (2020). Dreams about COVID-19 versus normative dreams: Trends by gender. Dreaming, 30(3), 216-221.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/drm0000149
Békés, V., & Aafjes-van Doorn, K. (2020). Psychotherapists’ attitudes toward online therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 30(2), 238-247.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/int0000214
Barkowski, S., Schwartze, D., Strauss, B., Burlingame, G. M., Barth, J., & Rosendahl, J. (2016). Efficacy of group psychotherapy for social anxiety disorder: A meta-analysis of randomized-controlled trials. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 39, 44-64.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2016.02.005
Blackmore, C., Beecroft, C., Parry, G., Booth, A., Tantam, D., Chambers, E., Simpson, E., Roberts, E., & Saxon, D (2009). A systematic review of the efficacy and clinical effectiveness of group analysis analytic/dynamic group psychotherapy. Centre for Psychological Services Research, School of Health and Related Research; University of Sheffield, UK.
Boldrini, T., Lomoriello, A. S., Del Corno, F., Lingiardi, V., & Salcuni, S. (2020). Psychotherapy during COVID-19: How the clinical practice of Italian psychotherapists changed during the pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 11.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.591170
Burlingame, G. M., & Jensen, J. L. (2017) Small group process and outcome research highlights: a 25-year perspective. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 67(sup1), S194-S218.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00207284.2016.1218287
Burlingame, G., & Krogel, J. (2005). Relative Efficacy of Individual versus Group Psychotherapy. International Journal
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1521/ijgp.2005.55.4.607
of Group Psychotherapy, 55, 607-611.
Carta, S. (2019). Guest editorial: the analyst as citizen in the world. Journal of Analytical Psychology, 64(2), 119-122.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5922.12474
Casagrande, M., Favieri, F., Tambelli, R., & Forte, G. J. S. M. (2020). The enemy who sealed the world: Effects quarantine due to the COVID-19 on sleep quality, anxiety, and psychological distress in the Italian population. Sleep Medicine, 75, 12-20.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2020.05.011
Duan, L., & Zhu, G. J. T. L. P. (2020). Psychological interventions for people affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. The Lancet, 7(4), 300-302.
Essam, B. A., & Abdo, M. S. (2020). How do Arab tweeters perceive the COVID-19 pandemic?. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research. Advance online publication.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-020-09715-6
Farber, B. A., Ort, D., & Mayopoulos, G. (2020) Psychotherapists’ preferences for television and movies during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 76, 1532-1536.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.23005
Floyd, D. L., Prentice-Dunn, S., & Rogers, R. W. (2000). A meta-analysis of research on protection motivation theory.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2000.tb02323.x
Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 30(2), 407-429.
Foa, E., & Rothbaum, B. (1998). Treating the trauma of rape. New York, NY: Guilford Publications Inc.
Foa, E. B., Steketee, G., & Rothbaum, B. O. J. B. t. (1989). Behavioral/cognitive conceptualizations of post-traumatic
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0005-7894(89)80067-X
stress disorder. Behavior Therapy, 20(2), 155-176.
Gustafson, D. H., Hawkins, R., Pingree, S., McTavish, F., Arora, N. K., Mendenhall, J., Cella, D. F., Serlin, R. C., Apantaku, F. M., Stewart, J., Salner, A. (2001). Effect of computer support on younger women with breast cancer. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 16(1), 435-445.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016007435.x
Herat, M. (2020). “I feel like death on legs”: COVID-19 isolation and mental health. Social Sciences & Humanities 2(1), 100042.
Hill, C. A. (1987). Affiliation motivation: people who need people… but in different ways. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(5), 1008.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.52.5.1008
Humer, E., Pieh, C., Kuska, M., Barke, A., Doering, B. K., Gossmann, K., Trnka, R., Meier, Z., Kascakova, N., Tavel, P., &
Probst, T. (2020). Provision of psychotherapy during the COVID-19 pandemic among Czech, German and Slovak
psychotherapists. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(13), 4811.
Humer, E., Stippl, P., Pieh, C., Pryss, R., & Probst, T. (2020) Psychodynamic, humanistic, systemic, and behavioral psychotherapists’ experiences with remote psychotherapy during COVID-19 in Austria: A cross-sectional online survey. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(11), e20246.
Jensen, H. H., Mortensen, E. L., & Lotz, M. (2010). Effectiveness of short-term psychodynamic group therapy in a public outpatient psychotherapy unit. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, 64(2), 106-114.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3109/08039480903443874
Kent, K. M., Hogan, M. L., Riddle, D. B., & Heesacker, M. (2020). Tending the grapevine: a qualitative analysis of responses to a psychotherapist-in-training testing positive for COVID-19. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 1-26.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2020.1772724
King, V. L., Brooner, R. K., Peirce, J. M., Kolodner, K., & Kidorf, M. S. (2014). A randomized trial of Web-based videoconferencing for substance abuse counseling. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 46(1), 36-42. doi: Krueger, R. A. (2014). Focus groups: A practical guide for applied research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage publications.
Lau, M., & Kristensen, E. (2007). Outcome of systemic and analytic group psychotherapy for adult women with history of intrafamilial childhood sexual abuse. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 116, 96-104.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.2006.00977.x
Li, S., Wang, Y., Xue, J., Zhao, N., & Zhu, T. (2020) The impact of COVID-19 epidemic declaration on psychological consequences: a study on active weibo users. Internaitional Journal of Environment Research and Public Health, 17(6), 2032.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17062032
Lima, C. K. T., de Medeiros Carvalho, P. M., Lima, I. d. A. S., de Oliveira Nunes, J. V. A., Saraiva, J. S., de Souza, R. I.,
Silva, C. G. L., Neto, M. L. R. J. P. R. (2020). The emotional impact of Coronavirus 2019-nCoV (new Coronavirus disease). Psychiatry Research, 112915. Advance online publication.
Lorentzen, S., Fjeldstad, A., Ruud, T., Marble, A., Klungsøyr, O., Ulberg, R., & Høglend, P. A. (2015). The effectiveness of short- and long-term psychodynamic group psychotherapy on self-concept: three years follow-up of a randomized clinical trial. International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 65(3), 362-385.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1521/ijgp.2015.65.3.362
MacMullin, K., Jerry, P., & Cook, K. (2020). Psychotherapist experiences with telepsychotherapy: pre COVID-19 lessons for a post COVID-19 world. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, 30(2), 248-264.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/int0000213
Marazziti, D., Pozza, A., Di Giuseppe, M., & Conversano, C. J. P. T. T. (2020). The psychosocial impact of COVID-19 pandemic in Italy: A lesson for mental health prevention in the first severely hit European country. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(5), 531. doi:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000687
Marmarosh, C. L., Forsyth, D. R., Strauss, B., & Burlingame, G. M. (2020). The psychology of the COVID-19 pandemic:
A group-level perspective. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 24(3), 122.
Mazza, C., Ricci, E., Biondi, S., Colasanti, M., Ferracuti, S., Napoli, C., & Roma, P. (2020). A nationwide survey of psychological distress among italian people during the COVID-19 pandemic: Immediate psychological responses and associated factors. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(9), 3165.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17093165
McBeath, A. G., du Plock, S., & Bager Charleson, S. (2020) The challenges and experiences of psychotherapists working remotely during the coronavirus pandemic. Couns Psychother Res., 20, 394-405.
Moccia, L., Janiri, D., Pepe, M., Dattoli, L., Molinaro, M., De Martin, V., Chieffo, D., Janiri, L., Fiorillo, A., Sani, G., &
Di Nicola, M. (2020). Affective temperament, attachment style, and the psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak: an early report on the Italian general population. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. Advance online publication.
Pennebaker, J. W., Boyd, R. L., Jordan, K., & Blackburn, K. (2015). The development and psychometric properties of LIWC2015. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Pennebaker J.W., Francis M.F., & Booth R.J. (2007). Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC): LIWC2007. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Pennebaker, J. M. M., & Niederhoffer, K. (2003). Psychological aspects of naturallanguage use: Our words, our selves. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 547-577.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145041
Poletti, B., Tagini, S., Brugnera, A., Parolin, L., Pievani, L., Ferrucci, R., Compare, A. & Silani, V. (2020). Telepsychotherapy: a leaflet for psychotherapists in the age of COVID-19. A review of the evidence. Counselling Psychology Quarterly. Advance online publication.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2020.1769557
Probst, T., Humer, E., Stippl, P., & Pieh, C. (2020). Being a psychotherapist in times of the novel coronavirus disease:
stress-level, job anxiety, and fear of coronavirus disease infection in more than 1,500 psychotherapists in Austria.
Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 559100.
Probst, T., Kuska, M., Stippl, P., Pieh, C. (2020). Psychotherapists register impacts of the COVID-19 lockdown on their
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3581015
patients. Advance online publication.
Rodgers, S. & Chen, Q. (2005). Internet community group participation: Psychosocial benefits for women with breast cancer. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 10(4).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2005.tb00268.x
Rossi, R., Socci, V., Talevi, D., Mensi, S., Niolu, C., Pacitti, F., Di Marco, A., Rossi, A., Siracusano, A. & Di Lorenzo, G.
(2020). COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures impact on mental health among the general population in Italy. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11. Advance online publication.
Segal, S. P., Silverman, C., & Temkin, T. (1993). Empowerment and self-help agency practice for people with mental disabilities. Social Work, 38(6), 705.
Shaw, B. R., Jeong Yeob Han, Hawkins, R. P., McTavish, F. M., & Gustafson, D. H. (2008). Communicating about self and others within an online support group for women with breast cancer and subsequent outcomes. Journal of health psychology, 13(7), 930–939.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105308095067
Su, Y., Xue, J., Liu, X., Wu, P., Chen, J., Chen, C., Liu, T., Gong, W., & Zhu, T. (2020). Examining the impact of COVID-19
lockdown in Wuhan and Lombardy: a psycholinguistic analysis on Weibo and Twitter. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(12), 4552. doi:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17124552
Tausczik, Y. R., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2010). The psychological meaning of words: LIWC and computerized text analysis methods. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 29(1), 24-54.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X09351676
Wallace, C. L., Wladkowski, S. P., Gibson, A., & White, P. (2020). Grief during the COVID-19 pandemic: Considerations for palliative care providers. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 60, e70-e76.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2020.04.012
Weinberg, H. (2020). Online group psychotherapy: Challenges and possibilities during COVID-19 - A practice review.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/gdn0000140
Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 24(3), 201-211.
Winzelberg, A. J., Classen, C., Alpers, G. W., Roberts, H., Koopman, C., Adams, R. E., Ernst, H., Dev, P., & Taylor, C. B (2003). Evaluation of an internet support group for women with primary breast cancer. Cancer, 97(1), 1164-1173.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.11174
Yalom, I. D. & Leszcz, M. (2005). The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy. New York: Basic Books.
How to Cite
Brusadelli, E., Ferrari, L., Benetti, M., Bruzzese, S., Tonelli, G. M., & Gullo, S. (2021). Online Supportive Group as social intervention to face COVID lockdown. A qualitative study on psychotherapists, psychology trainees and students, and community people. Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome, 23(3). https://doi.org/10.4081/ripppo.2020.501
Copyright (c) 2020 Emanuela Brusadelli, Laura Ferrari, Michele Benetti, Stefania Bruzzese, Giada Maria Tonelli, Salvatore Gullo
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.
Similar Articles
- Giorgia Margherita, Benedetta Muzii, Alessia Caffieri, Adriana Di Francia, Brenda Somma, ‘Isolated together’: online group treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic. A systematic review , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 25 No. 3 (2022): SPECIAL ISSUE: "Group psychotherapy: between settled benchmarks and new horizons"
- Samantha Reis, Emily L. Matthews, Brin F.S. Grenyer, Characteristics of effective online interventions: implications for adolescents with personality disorder during a global pandemic , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 23 No. 3 (2020)
- Johannes Pries, Alexander Niecke, Annekatrin Vetter, Ulrich Schultz-Venrath, More than one way home - Student raters' impressions of interventions and group processes in mentalisation based group psychotherapy and group analytic psychotherapy , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 25 No. 3 (2022): SPECIAL ISSUE: "Group psychotherapy: between settled benchmarks and new horizons"
- Cheri L. Marmarosh, Steven Sandage, Nathaniel Wade, Laura E. Captari, Sarah Crabtree, New horizons in group psychotherapy research and practice from third wave positive psychology: a practice-friendly review , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 25 No. 3 (2022): SPECIAL ISSUE: "Group psychotherapy: between settled benchmarks and new horizons"
- Cecilia Giordano, Ivan Ambrosiano , Maria Teresa Graffeo, Alessandro Di Caro, Salvatore Gullo, The transition to online psychotherapy during the pandemic: a qualitative study on patients’ perspectives , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 25 No. 3 (2022): SPECIAL ISSUE: "Group psychotherapy: between settled benchmarks and new horizons"
- Jessica L. Borelli, Lyric N. Russo, Jose Arreola, Breana R. Cervantes, Christina M. Marquez, Gloria Montiel, Vanessa Avalos, Jacqueline Carballo, Jackie Garcia, Isha Bhatt, Gina Torres, Francisca Leal, Nancy Guerra, Saving a seat at the table for community members: co-creating an attachment-based intervention for low-income Latinx parent-youth dyads using a promotor/a model , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 25 No. 1 (2022)
- Giovanna Esposito, Anna Sara Cutolo, Raffaella Passeggia, Silvia Formentin, Miguel Mario Gonçalves, Tracking change in group interventions: a further adaptation of the innovative moments coding system for groups , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 25 No. 3 (2022): SPECIAL ISSUE: "Group psychotherapy: between settled benchmarks and new horizons"
- Alessandro Talia, Anna Georg, Björn Siepe, Salvatore Gullo, Madeleine Miller-Bottome, Jana Volkert, Corinne Neukel, Michael Kaess, Felix Bempohl, Sabine C. Herpertz, Svenja Taubner, An exploratory study on how attachment classifications manifest in group psychotherapy , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 25 No. 3 (2022): SPECIAL ISSUE: "Group psychotherapy: between settled benchmarks and new horizons"
- Gaia Albano, Rubinia Celeste Bonfanti, Salvatore Gullo, Laura Salerno, Gianluca Lo Coco, The psychological impact of COVID-19 on people suffering from dysfunctional eating behaviours: a linguistic analysis of the contents shared in an online community during the lockdown , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 24 No. 3 (2021)
- CV Vijayapriya, Rameshbabu Tamarana, Effectiveness of internet-delivered dialectical behavior therapy skills training on executive functions among college students with borderline personality traits: a non-randomized controlled trial , Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome: Vol. 26 No. 3 (2023)
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.
