Forming professional and IT identities: A longitudinal case study of using an information system for blended psychotherapy
Abstract
Focusing on novice psychotherapists who use an information system supporting their therapeutic work, this study investigates the interaction between the formation of a professional identity and an IT identity. We conducted 30 semi-structured narrative interviews in a two-year-long data collection with psychotherapists in Germany at the early stages of their training in cognitive behavioral therapy using "elona therapy," a certified digital health solution for blended psychotherapy. Following the grounded theory methodology, we identified three relationships between IT identity and psychotherapists' professional identity: IT identity can function as a reassurance for the nascent professional identity; IT identity evokes tensions in the nascent professional identity; and IT identity and professional identity co-develop in an interdependent way. Our findings provide significant theoretical insights into the relationship between these two separate but important types of identities related to information systems use by a group of professionals who have little digital support in their work.
Keywords
Professional identity, IT identity, psychotherapy, IS use, digital health