Distance Psychotherapy – New Reality

High technology progresses fast in the medical area. The most recent advance is the “big data” study, in which multiple technologies are applied to populations in order to incorporate genetic data, biological markers and imaging, to assess risks and predict the occurrence of clinical phenomena. That is a global, multidisciplinary and multinational view, which supports and helps the implementation of preventive actions.

Psychology practice in Brazil, however, still resists to this modernity. Face-to-face psychotherapy is the only modality of treatment accepted by the Brazilian Federal Council of Psychology. However, distance counseling, via Internet or mobile phone, has been increasingly used in the USA, Europe and Oceania. Epstein et al. have reported the increasing use of “e-therapy”, as well as the exponential growth of related publications. In New Zealand, Gibson et al. have reported the experience of adolescents with mobile phone therapy. Eight aspects were identified by adolescents as advantageous: privacy, autonomy, control, anonymity, easy access, personalization, individualization of language, and connection.

[…]