Psihoterapija, Vol. 34 No. 1, 2020.
Professional paper
https://doi.org/10.24869/psihei.2020.148
GROUP ANALYSIS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Dolores Britvić
; Psychiatry Clinic, Clinical Hospital Centre Split, University of Split School of Medicine, Croatia
Abstract
The psychological consequences of a pandemic manifest as anxiety, depression, PTSD, confusion, anger, feelings of uncertainty, and behavioural changes. This calls for a need to continue group therapeutic work, and a virtual space offers possibilities for therapeutic communication during measures of social distancing. The goal of this work is to present the specificities of group analysis during a pandemic using digital technology (WhatsApp, Zoom platforms). At the start of the pandemic, WhatsApp use allowed group members a permanent means of contact and support in times when the further continuation of group therapy was uncertain. When group therapy began to take place on the Zoom platform, closeness between group members and the group cohesion were not lost, the group members worked through the content that related to the crisis at hand, they spoke out on anxiety and their fear of disease, on the anxiety of social isolation, and the loss of everyday activities. The problems at hand reminded them of past crises. It is precisely the continuation of group therapy, via the use of digital technology, which provided group members relief in acclimatizing to measures of social distancing. Further research is needed on the dynamics and specificities of group analysis in a virtual environment.
Keywords
COVID 19 pandemic; group analysis; Internet psychotherapy; Zoom meeting
Hrčak ID:
242240
URI
Publication date:
3.8.2020.
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