The transition to online psychotherapy during the pandemic: a qualitative study on patients' perspectives

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has substantially increased online psychotherapies due to the impossibility of participating in vis-a-vis settings. In the last years, research about online therapy has been quickly growing. However, until now, few studies investigated patients' perspective about the transition to online psychotherapy and, specifically, no qualitative research in group therapy has been done on this topic. This study aimed to explore the experience of 51 patients (39 group patients and 12 from individual psychotherapies) who continued psychotherapy in the online setting during the COVID-19 outbreak. A structured online questionnaire with open answers investiga…