Therapist adaptations for online caregiver emotion-focused family therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT The urgency to implement distance-based methods to provide ongoing mental health care during the novel coronavirus (COVID‐19) pandemic represents a critical shift in treatment delivery for children, youth, and families. The COVID-19 pandemic has placed additional strain on the mental health of families and children. As a result, there is an increased need for brief, family-based interventions. Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) is an empirically-supported intervention targeting caregivers of children with mental health challenges. The EFFT group therapy modality typically involves thirty caregivers who participate in a two-day intensive workshop, serving as a brief yet efficient intervention with enduring impact. Based on experiences within our clinic, this article provides practical intervention strategies to address common challenges therapists may contend with while providing EFFT intervention to caregivers and families through a secure videoconferencing platform. Additional research in distance-based mental health care for children and their caregivers can assess effectiveness, efficiency and improved access to mental health care throughout the pandemic.