How is a session with the psychologist?

The lockdown, the pandemic, the need to minimise social contacts have led to major changes in everyone’s life and also in the world of work. Companies have adopted smartworking, maintaining it even after the pandemic peak. People’s psychological well-being has undergone a major shake-up and this has led to a considerable increase in demand for psychological support. At the same time, the way in which many health professionals work has also changed. Whenever possible, they have ‘moved’ online, making use of technologies that enable remote patient care. However, online psychology is not something entirely new but has been around for a decade. With social restrictions and the pandemic, the phenomenon of distance psychology has become more pronounced, and even professionals who are reluctant to innovate have had to adapt, adding online sessions, which are becoming increasingly popular among young people, to their services. But what are the main differences between a traditional session and an online session?

Dialogue, the main method

Face-to-face sessions, from dialogue to relaxation techniques
The therapeutic course of action defined during the visit to the psychotherapist depends on many factors and changes according to the seriousness of the situation. The initial interview is used to direct the patient towards psychological therapy or another specialist, depending on the problem. The psychiatrist is in fact the professional figure who deals with the most serious disorders that also require drug therapy. If it is decided that the patient should be referred to a psychologist, periodic psychological sessions are alternated with specific treatments. Through dialogue, which is the main mode of psychological support during the sessions, the specialist tries to get to the bottom of the patient’s mental patterns and investigates the behaviours that cause emotional suffering and discomfort. There are cases in which a more articulated and complex process is required, for example the patient is invited to write down fears, thoughts, anxieties, events that will then help the specialist to unravel important psychological knots. Dialogue is the key to psychotherapy, where patient and specialist take turns in questions and answers, the focus is on the patient’s story, which is stimulated to focus on the right points to bring out the patient’s inner self and achieve understanding and improvement. The active participation of the patient and the desire to bring about change is fundamental to achieving the therapeutic goals.

Relaxion techniques and exercises

Relaxation techniques are another therapeutic approach that often complement the dialogue during sessions with the psychologist.
Bioenergetics includes relaxation techniques or exercises aimed at improving psychophysical well-being and preparing the patient for a better approach to therapy. Relaxation techniques are very useful in the case of depressive disorders or very intense states of anxiety and include imaginative techniques, psychosomatic massage, breathing exercises and bioenergetics. Some of these techniques, once learned during the session, can then be carried out independently in everyday life. Psycho-education is also very important, in which the specialist provides the patient with information and advice on how to implement behaviours and cognitive schemes to respond to automatic negative thoughts and states of anxiety, and on how to recognise physiological signals from the body to react to.