Drawing, shapes, and images in psychotherapy: online with the virtual whiteboard-PsyCare

20 Feb

Draw, writing or doodling on a blank sheet of paper are part of a way of expressing the so-called unconscious language, and can sometimes be more real than words because they reveal unexpressed feelings, especially in the context of psychotherapy.

Writing and doodling on a piece of paper during a meeting, whether work-related or otherwise, is a common experience for many. Draw during a meeting of psychotherapy, but also view images or photographs it falls within some specific therapeutic practices.

How can I transfer my usual studio activities online? Are they valid?

Scientific evidence has shown that offering children remote psychological support services, during and after emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic, contributes to improving their mental health. In particular, a recent study showed that art therapy interventions (with two different approaches), even when applied online, contribute to improving both children’s attention and hyperactivity.
You can learn more Who.

Drawing in psychotherapy

The drawing falls within the context of the Art-therapy because it stimulates the person to freely and spontaneously express his own psychological contents: both with adults and adolescents, and with the little ones (draw-therapy). In fact, for many patients, it proves to be an important communication method, as it stimulates and facilitates the expression of those parts of the self that are generally difficult to express. Unlike the commonly used art therapy, which encourages the production of one’s own creations as a liberating and therapeutic modality in itself, in this case the professional is a psychotherapist who focuses not so much on the development of the graphic gesture as on the symbolic content expressed.

Draw in psychotherapy It has proven to be extremely effective in various contexts. This technique is also used by systemic psychotherapists in their work with families; in various cases they make use, for example, of the family genogram made with symbolic drawing.

Photographs and images in psychotherapy

The photograph can be a valuable ally in therapy: the use of photography as a therapeutic tool dates back to before the 1900s. The power of photos lies in their ability to evoke contents of which the subject is not aware at first glance: by answering questions about the photographs, patients can make connections with memory, thoughts and feelings buried deep in their unconscious and that verbal interviews alone are often unable to bring to light.

 ..the photo is not the end, the photo is the beginning because the meaning, the story it tells, the feelings that are embedded in the photo are evoked again.” (Judy Weiser)

The use of imagery in psychotherapy also has other meanings: exploring awareness of one’s body image and the relationship between psychological and physical aspects.

More generally, various techniques and approaches make extensive use of images: from a book, as well as from the patient’s smartphone.

How to proceed online?

Drawing and images: the online session with PsyCare's virtual whiteboard

In PsyCare it is possible draw and upload images on a white sheet of paper, the so-called virtual blackboard, right during the session of psychotherapy online and save the work directly within PsyCare: the patient will be able to resume, if the therapist allows it, the work of the previous session for complete it independently.

Imagine the program Microsoft Paint (commonly used on PCs for drawing and writing) transported online during a session, where both the therapist and the patient can interact in real time: each sees the changes made by the other, which are automatically saved with each change. This is the virtual blackboard by PsyCare.

When both the therapist and the patient are both online, on the right side of the screen of their respective devices, they will both see virtual whiteboard icon (as in the following image).

By clicking on the icon it will be possible:

open a new virtual whiteboard
Load the virtual whiteboard from the previous session (this feature will be available soon)

After logging into your personal virtual room, simply select the virtual whiteboard icon.

Further details on the virtual whiteboard features are available in the relevant Support section: “Therapist’s Virtual Whiteboard“

The virtual blackboard

The virtual whiteboard in PsyCare is shared in real time between therapist and patient and allows both to take advantage of the available features.

As a therapist, you always see your patient at the top of the screen.

Additionally, a popup at the bottom of the board reminds you that “The virtual whiteboard is automatically saved with each change. You can always access it from the meeting attachment..”

On the left side of the virtual whiteboard, both the therapist and the patient can:

click on <genogramma> to easily build a genogramma
- technique used by systemic psychotherapists in their work with families
click on <select> to select an object on the board
click on <move> to scroll the virtual sheet in four directions (up, down, right and left)
click on <draw> to draw freehand in the color you set
- the patient can be given the option to freely use the digital sheet during the meeting
click on <insert> to insert images from your device directly onto the virtual whiteboard
- introducing one or more images can be important to evaluate the patient’s emotional response
click on <figure2D> to quickly draw an arrow, rectangle, square, circle or triangle
- even the forms have deep and diversified contents, which are often those mainly grasped by the subject in a more or less superficial way according to the capacity for self-understanding
click on <trace line> to draw a line in the set color
click on <you write> to write a text on the virtual whiteboard
- to facilitate sharing to-do lists, points to reflect on, or insert sight words that can elicit an emotional response in therapy
click on <remove> to delete the selected object
click on <changes color> to set the color for each of the available functions
- Anyone who gives the patient the opportunity to draw, sketch or simply uses this approach knows how important the colours chosen by the patient are.

At the top of the virtual whiteboard, both the therapist and the patient can:

click on <un-do> to cancel the operation
click on <re-do*> to restore the operation (*the function is currently disabled)
click on <clean up> to clean the entire blackboard
click on <zoom +> to enlarge the section
click on <zoom –> to shrink the section

The therapist, in a completely exclusive way, can:

click on To save the virtual whiteboard as an image on your device, identifying it with the date and time of the session, or in the format; the therapist also has the option of making the virtual sheet available to the patient at the end of the session.
decide whether to leave the virtual whiteboard open for the patient during the online session, even after it has concluded, for subsequent assessments regarding the activities the patient could undertake with it available.

The instrument of the blank sheet of paper it’s as simple as it is essential.
Offering your patients the opportunity to take advantage of it will certainly be an advantage. It will bring benefits to therapy, which will not be constrained by the limitations often encountered online; it will make the encounter with the patient more fluid, who will be able to find the same activities online that were available in the office: setting online It will be as close as possible to the setting the patient was used to in the office.

The genogram is integrated into the virtual whiteboard

In PsyCare, the virtual whiteboard is shared in real time between therapist and patient and allows the use, in addition to the basic functions available, of the new function dedicated to the creation of the genogram online.

The virtual whiteboard is also available at the end of the session

The whiteboard that the therapist and patient have available on the platform during the online session can also be accessed afterward. The therapist can decide whether to enable or disable this feature for each patient at the end of the online session.

Therapist

The therapist has the ability to view and modify the whiteboards of each session and displays them:
– in the list of online sessions for each patient, where they have used them or made them available

– in the list of sessions of all patients, on the respective detail line, where you have used or made them available

Patient

Each patient will also have their own whiteboard (if shared) available in the session list and, depending on the settings the therapist defines, will be able to view or even modify it; it will be sufficient to:
– click on the respective icon to open the virtual whiteboard (if made available by the therapist)
– click on the icon to view or download the image (if made available by the therapist)

Remember: further details on the features available on the platform are available in the "Support" in PsyCare.

Online psychotherapy also involves drawing and working with images and photos.

The drawing It’s one of those activities that individuals develop in childhood and with which they have a relationship tied to the spontaneity and freedom of expression that comes from it. For many people, precisely for these reasons, it proves to be an important psychotherapeutic tool; a tool that facilitates self-expression and self-knowledge, helps resolve certain psychological conflicts, limit stress, and increase one’s level of psychophysical well-being.

The photo (and the Images in general) are now used by many professionals in the therapeutic path offered to their patients.