In the past 2 weeks, teletherapy has likely surpassed in-person therapy. Also, video-based sessions likely outnumber telephone sessions.

Studies seem to show these modes are generally equivalent, but I keep thinking about this study by Kraus (2017) https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-43854-002 1/n

From the Discussion:

"we examined the possibility that less is more—that voice-only communication, even though it involves only one of the modalities of emotion expression, will significantly improve empathic accuracy over communication across multiple senses. 2/n

Results from five experiments support this view. This boost in empathic accuracy for voice-only communication occurred when compared to vision-only and across senses communication, and 3/n

persisted when examining different kinds of emotional discussions, different ways of assessing self- and perceiver-reports of emotion, and even when the actual content of the interactions was held constant." 4/n

I had 5 sessions yesterday. 1 via phone, 4 via video/web-based platform. My subjective experience was feeling much more focused and effectively tracking and engaging the patient when on the phone with voice only. 5/n

And that resonates with times when I'm doing supervision and we're watching videos of supervisees' therapeutic work. I frequently close my eyes and focus on the sounds of the session when I'm aiming to truly capture what is happening. Anyone else have these impressions? 6/n