The delivery of a tele‐psychology service to Shetland

Abstract This paper describes preliminary findings of a pilot project designed to evaluate a teleconferencing clinical psychology service between Aberdeen and Shetland. Over a 12‐month period, 10 clients were assessed face‐to‐face in Shetland, then attended an average of 12 therapy sessions each via a teleconferencing link with a clinical psychologist based in Aberdeen. The majority of clients reported that they were satisfied with the tele‐therapy, and some expressed a preference for this mode of communication because they felt it reduced confrontational aspects of contact and increased their perception of control. One client was not able to continue after two initial sessions due his discomfort at discussing his difficulties ‘in cyberspace’. The clinical psychologist was satisfied with using teleconferencing as a mode of providing treatment, and felt that therapeutic rapport was not compromised by the technology. A number of recommendations are made for consideration by those planning to deliver telepsychology services in future. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.