1180 - FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH RETENTION IN ONLINE PSYCHOLOGICAL COUNSELING

Session: D16S002 - Counseling Psychology 2
AUTHORS:
Eimontas Jonas (Vilnius University ~ Vilnius ~ Lithuania) , Grigutyte Neringa (Vilnius University ~ Vilnius ~ Lithuania) , Paškeviciute Paulina (Vilnius University ~ Vilnius ~ Lithuania) , Stankute Vaida (Vilnius University ~ Vilnius ~ Lithuania) , Laurinavicius Alfredas (Vilnius University ~ Vilnius ~ Lithuania)
Abstract text:
Introduction. Online psychological counseling is a feasible option for those in need of psychological services, and it saves time, travel costs, and improves accessibility for those living remotely or having mobility difficulties. However, high dropout rates warrant investigating which client, therapist and treatment-related factors are associated with the decision to continue treatment after the initial first consultations.


Purpose. The purpose of this study is to explore the factors associated with retention in online psychological counseling following initial sessions.


Method. In this study, we invited clients and their psychologists of an online psychological counseling service to fill out questionnaires before the first, after first, second, third, fifth, and tenth consultations. Psychologists were asked to fill in questionnaires on their professional experience, working alliance with a given client, and demographic information. Client measures included The Big Five Inventory - 2 (Soto & John, 2017), the Working Alliance Inventory (Hatcher & Gillaspy, 2006), the Milwaukee Psychotherapy Expectations Questionnaire-Brief (Normberg et al., 2011 ), Therapist Hope for Clients Scale (Bartholomew et al., 2020), Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995), and sociodemographic information.



Results. A review of pilot study data showed that client personality related factors account for a substantial part of retention After completing data collection in February 2026, we will report on the role working alliance, treatment expectancy and personal therapist and client related factors to the retention in online psychological counseling.


Conclusions. Online psychological counseling has a number of advantages when it comes to scaling up and improving accessibility of psychological therapies. However, to improve retention, we need to systematically explore the client, therapist, and therapeutic relationship associated factors that contribute to it and compare it to the evidence from studies on face-to-face psychological counseling.