Online Psychotherapy in Brazil

integrative review of national publications pre COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Online psychotherapy is a therapy format carried out at distance and mediated by the internet. In Brazil, it is a growing practice, driven by its recent regulation in 2018 and by COVID-19 pandemic surge in the beginning of 2020. This integrative review aimed to review the national literature on online psychotherapy, covering the pre-pandemic time course of COVID-19. A search on Biblioteca Virtual da Saúde (BVS), PePSIC and Scielo databases was conducted considering publications from 2000 to 2020. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 23 papers were selected. In general, publications on the field investigated or discussed professional ethics, therapeutic relationship, legislation and regulations on the topic, protocol development, analysis of clinical cases, and profession opinion on the theme. The review evidenced a publication profile oriented to theoretical and legal aspectsof online psychotherapy and a lesser amount of empirical research based on rigorous methodological designs. It is suggested that future investigations empirically address cross-cutting themes regarding psychotherapy approaches and invest in evidence-oriented research for the adaptation of techniques to online psychotherapy.