586 - A STUDY ON THE COUNSELING PROCESS AND EFFECTIVENESS OF INTEGRATING TELETHERAPY AND CHATBOTS

Session: P_D16S001 - Poster Session 1 - Division 16
AUTHORS:
Yeh Pao-Ling (National Pingtung University ~ Pintung ~ Taiwan)
Abstract text:
Traditional psychology typically explores the relationships between people. The relationships between humans and robots represent a new type of relational pattern for humanity. In addition to the conventional in-person counseling approach, chatbots are gradually being accepted as a valid counseling practice. Many chatbots developed based on psychological counseling theories can be incorporated into the services of remote therapists, indicating that teletherapy and chatbots are gradually being integrated and applied together. This study aimed to understand the effects of chatbot usage on clients' depression, anxiety, working alliance, and technology acceptance in the teletherapy process. This study recruited 15 therapists, who administered four 50-minute teletherapy sessions on 30 clients. Pre- and post-tests on depression, anxiety, working alliance, and technology acceptance scales were employed to statistically analyze the effects of integrating teletherapy and chatbots. In addition, the therapists were interviewed to understand what preparations were made before integrating chatbots into psychological counseling and what the process of chatbot-assisted counseling entailed. The research results revealed that counseling outcomes exhibited no gender or age differences, and that the differences between pre- and post-test scores on depression, anxiety, working alliance, and technology acceptance were only marginally significant. Moreover, the clients exhibited lower levels of depression and anxiety. It is speculated that the small sample size may have made it difficult to achieve statistically significant results, and limitations on the number of counseling and chatbot usage sessions may also have affected the outcomes. Comparing the results of the thematic analysis of the qualitative interview transcripts revealed that clients in this study used Wysa for relaxation training and stress relief, and also used it to discuss their personal concerns and thereby alleviate depression. They maintained a positive and accepting attitude toward chatbot-assisted counseling. It is recommended that future research and psychological counseling practices take these findings into consideration.