The research phenomenologically explored the experience of facilitating virtual video groups during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research questions addressed relational processes in virtual video groups, including emotional presence, interpersonal communication, and intimacy. Specifically, we asked how facilitators can intervene effectively to promote these processes in the virtual space, within the context of social distancing.

Semi-structured group interviews were held with 26 female group facilitators from various professional backgrounds during the first wave of COVID-19 in Israel in May 2020. Phenomenological analysis yielded five main themes addressing dialectical tensions that operate simultaneously in the virtual space, both enabling and hindering relational processes in virtual video groups: intimacy and intrusion in the domestic space; sharp transitions from presence to absence; fragmented processing despite abundant information; sterility and clarity in group communication; and the hyper-aware self – being a participant and an observer at the same time. Moving groups into a virtual sphere challenged the traditional role of facilitators, who struggled to create a safe space in an unstable virtual setting where the boundaries between personal and professional lives were reduced. Findings also point to the potential of the domestic space to promote closeness and intimacy and suggest the virtual space requires facilitators to embrace multiplicity as a state of mind when intervening. Facilitators must work with permeable boundaries between inner and outer group spaces, accept discontinuity as a basic property of the virtual, and acknowledge the limitations caused by multiple stimuli.

该研究从现象学上探讨了在 COVID-19 大流行期间促进虚拟视频群组的经验。研究问题涉及虚拟视频群体中的关系过程，包括情感存在、人际交流和亲密关系。具体而言，我们询问了在保持社交距离的情况下，促进者如何有效地干预以促进虚拟空间中的这些过程。

在 2020 年 5 月以色列的第一波 COVID-19 浪潮期间，对来自不同专业背景的 26 名女性团体协调人进行了半结构化的团体访谈。现象学分析产生了五个主要主题，解决了在虚拟空间中同时运作的辩证紧张局势，既支持又阻碍虚拟视频群中的关系过程：家庭空间的亲密和侵入；从存在到不存在的急剧转变；尽管信息丰富，但仍是碎片化的处理；群体交流中的无菌和清晰；以及超意识的自我——同时作为参与者和观察者。将团体转移到虚拟领域挑战了促进者的传统角色，他们努力在一个不稳定的虚拟环境中创造一个安全的空间，在这个环境中，个人生活和职业生活之间的界限被缩小了。调查结果还指出了家庭空间在促进亲密和亲密方面的潜力，并表明虚拟空间需要协调人在进行干预时将多样性作为一种心态。促进者必须处理内部和外部群体空间之间的可渗透边界，接受不连续性作为虚拟的基本属性，并承认多重刺激造成的局限性。