Becoming “Teletherapeutic”: Harnessing Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP) for Challenges of the Covid-19 Era

The covid-19 pandemic raises substantial challenges for the practice of psychotherapy. The rapid changes in the personal experiences of both clients and therapists, and the required adaptations in the therapeutic setting, affect the therapeutic relationship and its process. We examine common challenges observed through supervision of therapists and peer group discussions, viewing them in light of reports of previous collective traumatic events. Consequently, we introduce major premises and techniques borrowed from Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy as they may apply to teletherapy. These interventions aim to maintain and strengthen the intimacy and safety of the therapeutic attachment relationship, essential for processing actual experiences of emotions and creating affective changes. We explicate the rationale and the clinical application of these relational and experiential interventions, and organize them through a comprehensive model. The model visually illustrates the matching of therapeutic interventions to the handling of the psychological upheavals triggered by the changes imposed by the pandemic, particularly the move to teletherapy. In addition to theoretical and practical suggestions, which could be adapted to various models of therapy, we present a brief clinical case demonstrating the application of the suggested therapeutic thinking and interventions.