Difficulties caused by COVID-19 infection prevention measures and solutions in clinical psychological support

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand the psychological support problems brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and differences in responses to these problems. The results of a web-based survey of 318 clinical psychologists showed that 90 % of participants believed that problems occurred due to infection prevention measures, while about half of the participants believed that problems occurred due to changes in the framework of support, such as the introduction of remote psychological support and the reduction of face-to-face support. The four problems that arose in psychological support were “poverty of conversation,” “difficulty in communication,” “difficulty in stable support,” and “disagreement among staff.” Psychologists responded to the problems in three ways: “devising communication,” “verbalization,” and “strengthening multidisciplinary cooperation.” From the results, it was clear that problems such as poor conversation, communication difficulties, and difficulties in stable support occurred in both face-to-face support under infection prevention measures and in the introduction of remote psychological support.