AUTHOR=Weerkamp-Bartholomeus Paula , Marazziti Donatella , van Amelsvoort Therese 

TITLE=Remote W.A.R.A. Compared With Face-to-Face W.A.R.A.: A Pilot Study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2020

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.620027

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2020.620027

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=Background: Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and its social restriction measures, online therapy is a life-saving possibility for patients with acute stress. Wiring Affect with ReAttach (W.A.R.A.) is a brief psychological intervention aiming to decrease negative affect, that can be offered online.
Methods: We assessed the effect of remote W.A.R.A. on negative affect in 37 patients. Consequently, we compared the effect of remote W.A.R.A. versus face-to-face W.A.R.A on negative affect in a cross-sectional design. 
Results:  W.A.R.A. remote therapy provoked a significant reduction of negative affect with a large effect size (d=3.08, p < 0.001). However, the reduction in negative affect was smaller than with W.A.R.A. face-to-face. We found a substantial difference between W.A.R.A. remote therapy and W.A.R.A. face-to-face in decrease of negative affect (d=1.36, p < 0.001).  
Limitations: 
We designed a numeric rating scale for evaluating negative affect. We investigated the impact on negative affect by assessing 'unpleasant feelings'. This conceptualization of negative affect might still be a point of discussion.
Conclusions: The study's findings indicated that W.A.R.A. remote therapy significantly reduced negative affect, but to a lesser extent than W.A.R.A. face-to-face. Nevertheless, W.A.R.A. remote therapy might offer a fast relief, especially when personal contact is difficult.