Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39468845›Full record

ArticlePsychiatric services (Washington, D.C.)2025

Patient Experiences With Group Teletherapy for the Treatment of Mental Illness: A Qualitative Study.

Jessica L Sousa, Pushpa Raja, Maya Rabinowitz, Jessica Richard, Andrew Smith, Haiden A Huskamp, Ateev Mehrotra, Alisa B Busch, Lori Uscher-Pines

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Jessica L SousaRAND, Boston (Sousa, Rabinowitz); Greater Los Angeles U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Los Angeles (Raja); RAND, Arlington, Virginia (Richard, Uscher-Pines); Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, Chicago (Smith); Harvard Medical School, Boston (Huskamp, Mehrotra, Busch); Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston (Mehrotra); McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts (Busch).
Pushpa RajaRAND, Boston (Sousa, Rabinowitz); Greater Los Angeles U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Los Angeles (Raja); RAND, Arlington, Virginia (Richard, Uscher-Pines); Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, Chicago (Smith); Harvard Medical School, Boston (Huskamp, Mehrotra, Busch); Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston (Mehrotra); McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts (Busch).
Maya RabinowitzRAND, Boston (Sousa, Rabinowitz); Greater Los Angeles U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Los Angeles (Raja); RAND, Arlington, Virginia (Richard, Uscher-Pines); Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, Chicago (Smith); Harvard Medical School, Boston (Huskamp, Mehrotra, Busch); Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston (Mehrotra); McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts (Busch).
Jessica RichardRAND, Boston (Sousa, Rabinowitz); Greater Los Angeles U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Los Angeles (Raja); RAND, Arlington, Virginia (Richard, Uscher-Pines); Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, Chicago (Smith); Harvard Medical School, Boston (Huskamp, Mehrotra, Busch); Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston (Mehrotra); McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts (Busch).
Andrew SmithRAND, Boston (Sousa, Rabinowitz); Greater Los Angeles U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Los Angeles (Raja); RAND, Arlington, Virginia (Richard, Uscher-Pines); Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, Chicago (Smith); Harvard Medical School, Boston (Huskamp, Mehrotra, Busch); Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston (Mehrotra); McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts (Busch).
Haiden A HuskampRAND, Boston (Sousa, Rabinowitz); Greater Los Angeles U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Los Angeles (Raja); RAND, Arlington, Virginia (Richard, Uscher-Pines); Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, Chicago (Smith); Harvard Medical School, Boston (Huskamp, Mehrotra, Busch); Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston (Mehrotra); McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts (Busch).
Ateev MehrotraRAND, Boston (Sousa, Rabinowitz); Greater Los Angeles U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Los Angeles (Raja); RAND, Arlington, Virginia (Richard, Uscher-Pines); Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, Chicago (Smith); Harvard Medical School, Boston (Huskamp, Mehrotra, Busch); Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston (Mehrotra); McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts (Busch).
Alisa B BuschRAND, Boston (Sousa, Rabinowitz); Greater Los Angeles U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Los Angeles (Raja); RAND, Arlington, Virginia (Richard, Uscher-Pines); Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, Chicago (Smith); Harvard Medical School, Boston (Huskamp, Mehrotra, Busch); Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston (Mehrotra); McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts (Busch).
Lori Uscher-PinesRAND, Boston (Sousa, Rabinowitz); Greater Los Angeles U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Los Angeles (Raja); RAND, Arlington, Virginia (Richard, Uscher-Pines); Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, Chicago (Smith); Harvard Medical School, Boston (Huskamp, Mehrotra, Busch); Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston (Mehrotra); McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts (Busch).

Funding

Use of Telemedicine in the Treatment of Mental IllnessR01MH112829 · NIMH · HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL · PI HUSKAMP, HAIDEN A., MEHROTRA, ATEEV · 2018 to 2025
$5.8M
NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH112829
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThe authors sought to understand patient experiences with group teletherapy to inform improvements in service delivery.

methodsFrom December 2022 to October 2023, semistructured interviews were conducted with 20 adults with depression or bipolar disorder who had received outpatient group teletherapy in the past 2 years. A rapid thematic analysis was conducted by using a matrix to identify patterns and synthesize data. A logic model from the patients' perspective was developed by extracting common themes related to elements of effective group teletherapy.

resultsTelehealth allowed for more empowered engagement in group teletherapy and enabled better access and longitudinal attendance for many patients, compared with in-person group therapy. However, many patients reported a reduced sense of emotional intimacy and connectedness with telehealth, and some reported that technology challenges and distractions contributed to feelings of disconnection. Patients were divided in their modality preferences, but many expressed an interest in receiving at least some of their group therapy sessions by telehealth.

conclusionsAlthough group teletherapy has the potential to meet patients' needs and preferences, more work is needed to improve the quality of the experience for patients.

Indexed as

Bipolar DisorderDepressive DisorderPatient SatisfactionPsychotherapy, GroupTelemedicineAdultFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedQualitative ResearchGroup teletherapyPatient experiencesQualitative methodsService deliveryTelecommunicationsTelehealth

Identifiers

PMID39468845
PMCPMC11786984

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.