The COVID pandemic has brought a huge increase in interest in online psychological support. Many people who would previously have only considered in-person therapy are now turning to chat or video calls. A study based on Katarína Azzamová's thesis, supervised by Zbyněk Vybíral from INPSY/Center for Psychotherapy Research, focused on the experiences of three women who used a chat crisis line in their most difficult moments when they were considering self-harm or suicide.
The study aimed to explore how people perceive contact with a psychologist in the relatively anonymous environment of a crisis chat. While many studies have addressed the effectiveness of online counseling in general, less attention has been paid to the individual experience of users. Therefore, the authors decided to look directly at how people in crisis actually experience such contact. To do this, the authors used interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA), a method that focuses on detailed examination of personal experience from the participants' perspective.
The study sought answers to several key questions:
- How do participants describe their experience of contact via chat?
- What elements do they perceive as effective, and what do they see as the limitations of this form of assistance?
- And to what extent does the fact that there is a real psychologist on the other side play a role for them?
When it's not about words, but presence
Chat has its own specific characteristics – it is anonymous, easily accessible, and therefore can feel safe. In addition, people can reach out when they are feeling their worst. Simply logging into the chat brings enormous relief – the study participants described feeling relieved even before the psychologist wrote anything to them. It was enough to know that someone was on the other side. The interviews revealed that the participants did not have high expectations. Above all, they wanted someone on the other side who would listen, who would give them time, and who could reassure them that it was okay to ask for help.
The decision to write to the chat was often a last attempt to find help. One of the women openly shared that if she had not received a response at that moment, the situation could have ended fatally for her – the very decision to write was an attempt to gain control over the situation and a step toward “stopping the critical moment.”
Limits of chat: no image = no atmosphere?
Some missed the “atmosphere of the room” and the ability to see the other person's reactions. For others, however, this was an advantage. It was precisely the anonymity and absence of visual contact that allowed them to share things they would otherwise not have been able to say.
Space to slow down and think through responses
A big advantage of the chat was the ability to have more control over things. Women appreciated being able to leave at any time, write only what they wanted, and organize their thoughts better through writing. Writing also slowed down the pace of communication, which helped calm emotions and gain perspective in a crisis situation.
AI psychologist – is it important that a human being chats with us?
According to the respondents, some of the chat psychologist's responses sometimes seemed “universal,” but they still emphasized a fundamental difference from communicating with artificial intelligence: humanity. On the other side, there is someone who voluntarily gives their time and shows that they want to help. This is irreplaceable in a crisis.
Recommended citation:
Azzamová, K., & Vybíral, Z. (2024). Kontakt v chatroome: Skúsenosti žien s chatovým poradenstvom v suicidálnych krízach [Contact in the Chatroom: Women’s experiences with chat counseling in suicidal crises]. Psychoterapie, 18(2), Article N4. https://doi.org/10.5817/PSY2024-2-4
