“60% of our patients have never done psychotherapy and they tell us that they appreciate the exchange with a person who is in their world, they are in fact young. 70% are under the age of 40. There are workers and parents. Parenting and the relationship with children is the area where we have the most demand. But digital is a means that changes the setting of psychological support: it must be used where it is proven that it can work. It is an advantage that, on the one hand, makes the service accessible, but also crosses needs “. Thus Daniele Francescon, co-founder of Serenis, a digital platform active in psychological support, speaking at the talk ‘Covid, war, economic crisis … which solutions for infodemic anxiety?’, Eighth webinar promoted and organized by Allies for Salute, the portal dedicated to medical and scientific information supported by Novartis.
The meeting – moderated by Federico Luperi, Director of Innovation and New Media of Adnkronos – was also attended by David Lazzari, president of the National Council of the Order of Psychologists (Cnop) and Claudio Mencacci, psychiatrist, co-president of the Italian Society of Neuropsychopharmacology.
The remote psychological service exploded with the Covid emergency, “but in reality – Francescon recalls – it was present even before the pandemic. Online psychotherapy has been used for 15 years in Anglo-Saxon countries and is supported by evidence. This type of intervention has increased with the pandemic. ”
Referring to the data cited during the meeting on mental distress, which has increased in the entire population, but especially among the most vulnerable young people, Francescon says that the platform acts “in a context in which there is a sense of necessity. The prerequisites are to simplify and make a service accessible. The explosion we see of realities like ours – psychologists and psychotherapists who show up, technically defined in the window, or like that of Serenis, which is more like a medical center – is riding a trend where digital can help. Where there is no proximity, for example, this is a solution ”.
“Digital is a means and is not suitable for all types of discomfort – Francescon underlines – it does not have the same effectiveness, but there is data and evidence” of where it can be used in a useful way. Various associations began to regulate this different setting, such as the American psychology association, in 2012-13. “The pandemic – he explains – has given a boost and when opportunities are created, the companies that occupy the space are born”. However, “a joint communicative effort is needed to pass online psychological support for what it is, work and give oneself rules, a code of ethics to avoid confusing an opportunity” with a purely commercial purpose, concludes the co-founder of Serenis. .
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