Schwegel H., Becher-Urbaniak S., Winter L., Schiller B. (2026). The space behind the lens: patients’ experiences of the online therapeutic space and the body

Psychotherapie Forum
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00729-026-00306-9

Abstract

The role of the body in psychotherapy has so far been primarily examined in face-to-face settings. This qualitative secondary analysis explored six patient interviews, focusing on patients’ experiences of online psychotherapeutic processes during the COVID-19 pandemic in an outpatient setting. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis according to Mayring.

The findings revealed central tensions: patients reported increased emotional concentration in the home environment, physical self-determination and spatial flexibility. Simultaneously, they experienced the lack of physical resonance as a significant limitation. The restriction to “voice and image” fragmented their holistic perception; technical disruptions further intervened directly in emotional processes. The “third space” created by the screen proved to be ambivalent, functioning as both protective and isolating.

Overall, the virtual space emerges as an independent therapeutic medium with specific demands and possibilities. The study highlights the necessity of digital setting competences and suggests that body-oriented techniques should be deliberately integrated into virtual therapeutic processes in order to create and foster resonance and therapeutic process quality, even in the absence of physical co-presence.

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