Breaking Barriers in Remote Client-Therapist Interaction: Exploring Design Spaces of Sensing and Sharing Non-Verbal Cues in Remote Psychotherapy

In remote psychotherapy, challenges arising from remote client-therapist interactions can impact the therapeutic alliance and overall outcomes. HCI research has focused on leveraging sensing technology to bridge gaps in remote interactions. In this work, we investigate the values and risks of integrating sensing technology in remote psychotherapy, specifically to capture and interpret non-verbal cues, by conducting a speculative design study with both clients and therapists. Our findings reveal that sensing technology has the potential to facilitate self-reflection in therapy. The sharing of tracked non-verbal cues could also possibly foster mutual disclosure, supporting therapists’ judgments and balancing power dynamics between clients and therapists. However, clients and therapists were concerned about the accuracy of sensing systems, potential privacy threats, and additional cognition burden. Our insights into system values imply how sensing technology could potentially balance power dynamics in client-therapist relationships as well as general interpersonal relationships. We also emphasize the increased considerations in sensing-technology-empowered communication for remote psychotherapy than in non-vulnerable settings.