Reflections on psychotherapy during the COVID-19 lockdown ebook published

Our ebook Psychotherapy and COVID-19: reflections on the pandemic – a collection of articles featuring practitioner perspectives on therapy in lockdown – is available for download.

In summer 2020, we invited our members to reflect on where psychotherapy sits within the current crisis, and many of our members submitted their abstracts. Ten articles were selected and published in an ebook, available as a benefit of UKCP membership.

These articles present a snapshot of a moment in which therapists and service-users navigated the challenges presented by the pandemic, addressing its existential threat and adapting to new forms of delivering psychotherapy.

Covering a range of topics ranging from attachment in the virtual world to the impact on black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups, the articles also aim to reflect on the future delivery of psychotherapy.

Download our free ebook Psychotherapy and COVID-19: reflections on the pandemic.

What's inside

Technology and online therapy

Towards blended psychotherapy: a COVID-19 legacy

Lockdown restrictions have led to a growing use of technology in psychotherapeutic sessions. Rodney Hill and Jen Ayling invite us to consider the therapeutic possibilities of a blended approach to therapy delivery.

Abandonment and attachment in the virtual world: how remote working during COVID-19 helped to accelerate the therapeutic encounter

What does technology contribute to psychotherapeutic work? Maria Harding reflects on how virtual contact during lockdown mediated an experience of abandonment.

Thoughts on moving from working in a designated therapy room to online as a psychotherapist working with children aged between 4 and 11 years during the COVID-19 pandemic

Moving therapy with primary aged children online needs careful consideration of the complex decisions involved, says Jo Gaskell. Here she explores some of the key considerations.

Translating the group online

Chris Rose and Camilla Matthews explore the demands and challenges of bringing psychotherapeutic groupwork online and suggest ways facilitators can promote connection and resilience.

At-risk groups

Homelessness in a time of COVID-19

Jenny McCann details her experience of providing psychotherapeutic support to homeless people during the pandemic.

COVID-19 disproportionality and the BAME community

Intertwining personal and professional experiences, Sonia Winifred examines the BAME experience during the pandemic.

Stay home: migrant responses to lockdown through a psychodynamic lens

Emmanuelle Smith challenges us to consider the diversity of responses to the pandemic restrictions from people with a history of migration.

Navigating through the pandemic with clients

Locked down, locked in, locked out: the experience of staying at home from the perspective of relational integrative psychotherapy

Garthine Walker examines the connection between how clients have reacted to lockdown restrictions and their childhood experiences from a relational perspective.

Unprecedented! The COVID-19 pandemic risk maze and what psychotherapy can offer

Dr Helen Molden explores how psychotherapeutic practitioners can help clients navigate the complex dynamics of risk during this pandemic.

Using trauma-informed principles to develop short-term, relational approaches to psychotherapy

With the pandemic predicted to lead to greater levels of distress, Beth Glanville outlines a psychotherapeutic approach aiming to provide trauma resolution in short-term therapy.