The Digital Therapy Room(s) - A grounded theory research examining video-delivered psychotherapy

Abstract: The global pandemic COVID-19 made it impossible for psychodynamic psychotherapists to continue with in-person psychotherapy and they had to transform their work to the digital platform. There is a research gap regarding psychodynamic psychotherapists experiences of video-delivered psychotherapy which is emergent to investigate since previous research has shown that the therapeutic relationship suffers in the digital room. The aim of the research is to develop a theoretical framework that explains psychodynamic psychotherapists’ experiences of video-delivered psychotherapy. A constructivist grounded theory approach is used to gather and analyze data. Qualitative semi-structured interviews and a theoretical sampling strategy is used to gather data and initial-, focused and theoretical codes are used to sort, select, and separate data to make analytical and theoretical sense of it. The grounded theory research results in a theoretical framework of an explanatory and factual character that sheds light on processes within the digital therapy room. The theoretical framework consists of the four theoretical categories “the other’s room”, “the unsaid”, “the immediacy” and “the ownership”, and these explain how processes in the digital room are linked and how they contribute to reduced control for the psychodynamic psychotherapists. Findings from previous research and the theoretical framework draws attention to the need for psychodynamic psychotherapists to construct a therapeutic frame that is functional in the digital room.