«ЧитаклЬ» — это не терапевтическая услуга и не медицинская платформа. Это инструмент в руках практикующего специалиста: пьесотерапия в формате парного чтения по видеосвязи. В её основе — эффект закрытого занавеса: феномен быстрого возникновения доверия между двумя незнакомцами через совместное проживание текста. Этим феноменом специалист может пользоваться по собственному усмотрению — для индивидуальной работы, парной супервизии, групповой динамики.
What "psychotherapy online" means today
Over the last five years the term "psychotherapy online" has expanded to a set of different formats:
- Individual sessions via video call. The standard. Therapist and client on Zoom or a similar platform. The same as in the office, but remotely.
- Group work online. Support groups, psychodrama groups, training formats.
- Asynchronous correspondence with a therapist — text platforms.
- Themed online courses on specific requests: anxiety, emotional regulation, self-esteem.
- Digital tools in practice apps for homework, mood diaries, help between sessions.
Chitacle expands this set with a sixth format: play-reading therapy via video call. This isn't an individual session with a therapist and isn't group work. It's partner reading by roles, in which the therapist's role can be different — observer, client's partner, leader of the after-session.
The border between therapy and tool
An important caveat. Chitacle isn't a therapeutic platform and isn't a medical service. We don't treat, don't diagnose, and don't make clinical claims.
An analogy: a guitar is an instrument on which a musician plays. Nobody considers the guitar's manufacturer a "concert performer." Likewise Chitacle is a tool that the specialist uses. The effect that happens between clients in the session is the specialist's work, not "Chitacle's service."
Therefore Chitacle doesn't require a medical license, doesn't replace classical psychotherapy, and isn't contraindicated for any of its schools. It's a communication technology that the specialist uses within the framework of their professional practice.
Play-reading therapy in the Chitacle format
Play-reading therapy is a variety of drama therapy. The client takes a role, speaks in the character's lines. The shelter of the role allows one to speak out the difficult through the character, not from oneself directly. This is a known psychotherapeutic technique.
Chitacle transfers this format online via video call, and at the same time simplifies it: no stage, director, props, schedule coordination needed. A browser, camera, and microphone are enough. The play's text opens simultaneously with the start — it's cold reading, without preparation.
More about the method and how to use it in practice — on the separate page "Play-Reading Therapy Online."
The closed-curtain effect — why this works
At the base of all applications of Chitacle in psychotherapy lies an observed phenomenon — the closed-curtain effect. After the play is read through, most pairs don't leave. They stay to talk for another hour, sometimes two — no longer in the characters' lines, but in their own words.
Behind this phenomenon are eight concrete psychological mechanisms: projection, the third-object phenomenon, emotional contagion, mentalization, reduction of social roles, self-disclosure through interpretation, recognition of similarity, overcoming communication barriers. All of them are described in contemporary bibliotherapy, drama therapy, and play-reading therapy.
For the specialist this means: in one meeting between two clients (or between a client and a partner, or between a client and the therapist themselves) a form of trust arises that usually needs to be built over weeks.
A detailed description of the phenomenon and all eight mechanisms — on a separate page.
Who it suits — and which landing you need
Depending on your specialty — we have a separate page with an analysis of application specifically for you:
- Chitacle for psychologists individual and partner work, observation through the shelter of the role, a tool for social exposure when working with anxiety.
- Chitacle for psychotherapists play-reading therapy as part of a drama-therapeutic approach, expansion of the arsenal for psychodramatists.
- Partner reading with a therapist two scenarios of work: therapist-viewer and therapist-partner.
- For a married couple a format in which a family psychologist observes the couple in a natural form without intervening.
- Chitacle for coaches training of spontaneity, empathy, active listening through the shelter of the role.
- Chitacle for trainers a trainer of communication skills for clients.
Work scenarios — three formats of specialist participation
- Therapist-viewer. Two clients (or a client and their partner) read a play in the "Read with a friend" mode. The specialist joins with a separate link and observes the clients' work in a natural form, without intervening. This gives a supervisory picture that is hard to obtain in office work "tell me what's happening with you."
- Therapist-partner. The specialist takes one of the roles themselves and reads with the client, entering the role together with them. You can regulate the pace, guide the intonations, stop where "it hit." Especially suits work with social anxiety, avoidance, development of spontaneity.
- Therapist-after-session leader. The clients read independently, the specialist meets them after — for material review. This is a "homework" format that takes the load off the in-person session.
How to start using Chitacle in practice
- Step 1. Register on Chitacle as a user — the first meeting is on us. Better to go through it yourself to understand the mechanism from within.
- Step 2. Choose a work scenario from the three above (viewer / partner / after-session leader) based on a specific client or pair.
- Step 3. Agree with the client on a meeting on Chitacle. This can be done as part of the work plan, as homework between sessions, or as a one-off experiment.
- Step 4. If you want to pick plays for a specific task (loneliness, partner work, empathy, loss) — write to chitacle.online@gmail.com. We'll send the selection.
- Step 5. For ongoing work with groups of clients — we'll discuss the format of a closed group with its own repertoire.
What's in the repertoire for a psychotherapist
- 200+ original plays. Contemporary original dramaturgy.
- Duologues with different role combinations two male roles, two female roles, or mixed — for partner work.
- Monoplays for a single performer — the "Read to me" format, when the specialist works with the client one-on-one.
- Themes. Relationships, crisis, passion, parting, encounter, farewell, anxiety, hope, conflict of values.
- Genres. Drama, comedy, tragicomedy, melodrama, romantic comedy, black comedy, lyrical drama, thriller, science fiction, buffoonery, absurd, miniature… A variety of genres gives the psychotherapist flexibility in picking material.
- CC BY 4.0 license. The play text can be received as a file by email for review with a supervisor.
We don't provide clinical recommendations on application — the decision on the applicability of play-reading therapy in a specific case remains with the specialist.
Frequently asked questions
Chitacle now speaks five languages — Русский · English · Español · العربية · 中文.
We did it quietly, but properly.