Psychotherapy and Technology: Relational Strategies and Techniques for Online Therapeutic Activity

Use of telephone, e-mail, SMS, and WhatsApp with patients is by now an established practice for any psychotherapist. Besides these commonly used devices, there are more, like Skype, that can be employed within a therapeutic relationship. Use of all these resources anyway is not without consequences on the patient–therapist relationship. From the standpoint of systemic therapists, there is an implied relational level even in long-distance communication: written communication and a limited number of characters do not transfer only data, but also implicit emotional and relational elements. Technology can be of great help to clinicians but therapists should employ with great care and awareness these new communicative devices, bewaring of risks which could compromise the setting management and the therapeutic relationship.