Forum Live: Teletherapy

On June 25, 2021, PsiAN held its first “Forum Live” webinar. As the name implies, Forum Live presents panel discussions, interviews, and the like — live, free, and open to the public. The live audience can submit questions and comments, a selection of which will be aired. All Forum Live events are recorded, with the video appearing here on the PsiAN Forum soon after.

The webinar on June 25 was a wide-ranging, fascinating discussion of teletherapy. That is, conducting psychotherapy at a distance, usually through a video link. As we all know, this became a necessity during the pandemic. But teletherapy has a much longer history. It also includes therapy over the phone, and even, in Freud’s day, by correspondence on paper. As pandemic restrictions gradually lift, many wonder whether psychotherapy has permanently changed. Is teletherapy here to stay?

Our panelists:

• Jill Bellinson PhD, teaches and supervises at the William Alanson White Institute, where she helped establish the child training program, and supervises at SUNY, Columbia, and Yeshiva Universities. She led workshops on adapting child therapy to remote work during the pandemic, and has a private practice in Manhattan.

• Todd Essig PhD, is a training and supervising psychoanalyst at the William Alanson White Institute, and a member of PsiAN’s Advisory Board. He publishes and lectures widely, and writes “Managing Mental Wealth,” a column in Forbes magazine on psychology, technology, and culture. He practices in New York City.

• Leora Trub PhD, is an associate professor of Psychology at Pace University, where she runs the digital media and psychology lab. She studies the impact of technology on our notions of self and other, and technology’s impact on psychotherapy practice. She has a clinical practice in New York City.

• Hannah Zeavin PhD, is a lecturer in the departments of English and History at the University of California, Berkeley and is affiliated with the University of California at Berkeley Center for Science, Technology, Medicine, and Society. Her first book, The Distance Cure: A History of Teletherapy, will be out this August.

Our moderator was Bevin Campbell, a psychologist in private practice in Brooklyn, and a very active volunteer in PsiAN’s media efforts. The run time is one hour 27 minutes.

— Steven Reidbord, PsiAN Forum editor