"With this Faith, we will be able to hew out of the Mountain of Despair a Stone of Hope."
Martin Luther King
There are moments in life when our path gets stumbled by doubts. We lose confidence in ourselves and question the way we have chosen. At these moments, inspiring stories about those who have succeeded and paved the way, can restore our energies. Right before Corona raises its crowns again, here are a few encouraging facts about Online Art Therapy.
Online Therapy has confronted us with the (allegedly) collapse of the fundamentals of Art Therapy. The physical space required to form mutual trust, therapeutic alliance, our Presence, and the Body itself. It is the Body that I believe most of us, art therapists, mourned the most.
During quarantine, I took the international Online Group Therapy Intensive Course guided by Dr. Haim Weinberg and Dr. Bram Van-Der Boom. I also participated in the online body-mind exercises kindly given online by the Israeli Institution of Bio-Energetic Analysis.
The intensive online course provided a practical online therapy kit and an extraordinary global group dynamic experience. The Bio-Energetic's Exercises engaged us with live motion supporting a deeper connection to our mental strength. I received from them the 'how and what to do' to improve my Online Art Therapy.
So, what are the main facts every Art Therapist should know?
1. History: eHealth services are already existing for several years, including medical online or digital diagnosis, monitoring, and support. Mental support and psychological treatments exist a long time before we had the Internet. For video-call People need about ten minutes to adapt. Then there is a high level of concentration, allowing focused, therapeutic work. Recent research supports mutual-regulative processes and a good and stable therapeutic alliance during online therapy.
2. The Body: The instructors of the Bio-Energetic Exercises demonstrated working through the barrier of disembodiment, existing in online therapy. They gave a complete session of mindfulness-movement, tip-toes to head, with guided imagery. Albeit requires self-discipline, it was inspiring to see a mutual online group movement going on. Dr. Bram generated a similar thing. Sitting far away in "the land down under," he Invited us (people from England, Israel, Italy, the U.S.) to move together. And a global mutual movement was born.
In online therapy, both intensive course and Bio-Energetic exercise encourage relating verbally to body sensations and facial expressions. I want to suggest stepping out of our tendency to "freeze" during online sessions. Set up your mind to vividly expressing feelings and presence with your face and hands.
3. Safe space: Creating a Holding therapeutic environment online is challenging. Our patient's personal space is no longer in our hands. Also, we should hold the technological-therapeutic space. But creating a safe space is not impossible. To achieve that, you need some practice and guidance.
Learn how to operate your video-call efficiently. Every software has a help center and technical support. Get familiar with the technology you are using. It is much friendlier than you might think. If you feel "blocked," ask a friend, a colleague, and please feel comfortable to ask me.
Turn Technophobic into TechnoTherapy. Gear up with an excellent camera and headphones. Considerate lights. Tell Your patients to do the same. Demonstrating technological abilities is part of your Holding Environment.
Create a professional, honoring personal safe place for yourself. Chose the most appropriate background picture that suits you. I am using the background picture to facilitate therapeutic work.
Define, in advance, your expectations and standards for online therapy. Let your patient hold their responsibility To keep their personal space safe. Talk with them about dress codes, which room to sit in, the lightning, and how to ensure privacy. For patients whose self-holding and independence play a significant role in therapy, is it a perfect exercise.
4. Presence and Dynamics: Online therapy requires a more active presence of the therapist. Being "active" is an "issue" for a lot of Art therapists. It clashes with our trainings and practices of being "here and now" with the patient's leads. Online, especially during first sessions and in transitional, liminal moments, you should try actively leading your patient into a mutual therapeutic space.
It is challenging. It requires practice and experience. In the intensive course is was proven to work In a live demonstration of group therapy. Besides the fact it was a unique("must") experience for group therapy fans, we witnessed deep psychodynamic processes. Within a few minutes We were right in the middle of the unconscious-social-matrix, group archetype roles, transference and counter-transference.
Until March 2020, Online Art therapy didn't make sense. Who could have imagined using this therapeutic platform regularly? It is the time to gain knowledge, experience, and confidence. You can practice it in peer-supervision, or with your colleagues at work. Combine the existing theoretical background with guidance, supervision, and training from the best in the field. You can open up an additional therapeutic channel, A fast-evolving channel that holds more than a few advantages.
For further interest:
Book: Weinberg, H. & Rolnick A. (eds.) (2019) Theory and Practice of Online Therapy: Internet-delivered Interventions for Individuals, Families, Groups, and Organizations. New York: Routledge.
Article: on the AGPA newsletter: From the Couch to the Screen - Online (Group) Therapy
Webinar: for the Group Analytic Society (GASi): From the circle to the screen - online groups
Course about Online Group Therapy: https://www.zurinstitute.com/course/online-group-psychotherapy/