Telephone-delivered compassion-focused therapy for adults with intellectual disabilities: a case series

Purpose Services are increasingly exploring the use of remote conferencing to deliver psychological interventions, which have become particularly important given the COVID-19 pandemic and infection control guidelines. This paper aims to explore the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effectiveness of delivering psychological therapy remotely to adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). Design/methodology/approach As part of routine practice within an adult ID community health service, this paper develops a six-session programme based on compassion-focused therapy (CFT) and delivered it to six clients. Clients completed the psychological therapy outcome scale for ID 2nd edition, at assessment, pre- and post-therapy, as well as a feasibility and acceptability measure. Findings Six clients engaged in telephone therapy; four clients individually, while the remaining two were supported by their caregiver. Most clients found the intervention helpful, enjoyable and were pleased that they received telephone-delivered psychological therapy. A reduction was observed at post-therapy in distress (g = 0.33) and risk (g = 0.69). No difference was reported in psychological well-being. Five clients were subsequently discharged from psychological therapy. Originality/value To the knowledge, this is the first study examining the use of telephone therapy (including CFT) for individuals with ID. Findings add to the growing evidence suggesting individuals with ID can benefit from receiving adapted psychological therapies. Research is required to further explore the effectiveness of remote-therapies, who would most likely benefit from this approach and how remote treatments could be used within existing pathways.

Telephone-Based, Clinician-Guided Self-Help Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression in Parkinson's Disease (dPD): The Responder Cases of "Alice" and "Carl," and the Nonresponder Cases of "Ethan" and "Gary"

Roseanne Dobkin and her colleagues (e.g., Dobkin, Interian, Durland, Gara, Menza, 2018) have developed a 10-session, individual cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) program for treating depression in individuals with Parkinson’s disease (dPD). The program has been found to yield statistically and clinically significant success in both uncontrolled group trial designs and randomized clinical trials—originally in a face-to-face version, and then in a telehealth version, using telephone therapy sessions and guided self-help materials for patients. This latter version is herein called "Teleheath Guided Self-Help for dPD," or "TH-GSH-dPD," for short. Applying Fishman, Messer, Edwards, and Dattilio’s (2017) "case studies within psychotherapy trials" methodological model, the present research was designed to complement the group research findings by my conducting systematic, pragmatic case studies (Fishman, 2013) with four patients representative of those in the telehealth studies, given the names of "Alice" (and her caregiver husband "Bob"); "Carl" (and his caregiver wife "Doris"); "Ethan" (and his caregiver wife, "Fay"); and "Gary" (and his caregiver mother, not named). Specifically, Alice and Carl were representative of those patients in the group studies with positive, responsive outcomes; and Ethan and Gary were representative of those patients in the group studies with negative, nonresponsive outcomes. Each case combines (a) quantitative data, comprised of demographic information, psychiatric diagnostic data, neurocognitive data, caregiver distress, and treatment outcome measures; and (b) qualitative data, consisting of recordings of the telephone therapy sessions, my treatment notes, my observations as the therapist, and systematic, post-treatment "Exit Interviews" I conducted with each of the patients and their caregivers about their therapy experience. Each of the four case studies aims (a) to provide a detailed, thickly described portrait of the TH-GSH-dPD treatment process; and (b) to explore the presence and influence of barriers and facilitators of treatment in an idiographic context. Regarding point (b), the following variables that cut across the case studies are explored as appearing to be particularly impactful: patients’ worldviews, patients’ cognitive functioning, caregiver involvement, and homework adherence.

Telemental Health During a Global Pandemic: Clinical Lessons from Guided Self-Help, Telephone Therapy Case Studies

I am a fourth year clinical psychology doctoral student at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP) at Rutgers University. I have devoted much of my graduate training to exploring effective tools for the dissemination and implementation of mental health services, with telehealth chief among them. However, until the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I had had no personal experience delivering psychotherapy treatment via virtual platforms. Reviewing Dr. Logan Durland’s (2020) lessons from treating Parkinson’s disease patients via telephone therapy has served as an excellent guide for navigating treatment, both during the pandemic and in the future.

Teleanalytic Therapy in the Era of Covid-19: Dissociation in the Countertransference

While we and our patients have many transferences to the modality of video or telephone therapy, these meanings are ultimately not intrinsic to the medium itself. Rather, they are symbolic meanings we make of the modality. This paper discusses the symbolic meanings that we attribute to teletherapy and the ways we may use these attributed meanings to dissociate the trauma of Covid-19. It also explores the clinical opportunities in identifying these dissociated countertransferential experiences and embodying them in our own and our patients’ experiences.

Casebook of Interpersonal Psychotherapy

Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) is based on evidence that interpersonal problems contribute to the onset of psychiatric disorders, and it helps patients to change interpersonal behavior in order to improve psychosocial functioning and relieve symptoms. IPT both relieves psychiatric symptoms and helps to build social skills. This online resource provides a wealth of real life treatment material, and illustrates the use of IPT in the hands of expert psychotherapists treating patients with a range of conditions and complications in different IPT treatment formats. The detailed cases give a sense of how IPT proceeds and how it works. Chapter authors describe specific adaptations of IPT for patients with particular disorders, including mood disorders, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and personality disorders. It also covers different contexts in which IPT may be practiced, including group therapy, inpatient settings, and telephone therapy.