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Microsystems, Electronics and Acoustics
ISSN 2523-4447 · e‑ISSN 2523-4455 Open Access · CC BY-SA 4.0
Vol. 30 · Issue 2 · 2025 Jun 21, 2025 Review articles

Acoustic Requirements for Premises for Personal and Group Psychotherapy: Literature Review

IM
Illia Volodymyrovych Melnyk Corresponding Національний технічний університет України «Київський політехнічний інститут імені Ігоря Сікорського» Ukraine
Pages329151.1-329151.7 PublishedJun 21, 2025
PDF (Ukrainian)
VOL 30 · ISS 2 · 2025 View issue

Abstract

The psychological impact of the war in Ukraine has created an urgent and substantial need for effective mental health interventions, particularly psychotherapy. As offline therapy often requires deep engagement, the quality of the physical environment becomes paramount. This article addresses the critical issue of acoustic comfort in psychotherapy spaces, an essential factor for ensuring patient confidentiality, effective communication, and a conducive therapeutic atmosphere, yet one for which specific standards are currently lacking in Ukraine. Drawing on a review of the literature on post-war mental health needs and the influence of environmental acoustics on well-being and communication, combined with professional experience in engineering acoustics, this article identifies key acoustic parameters necessary for effective therapeutic settings. These include adequate sound insulation to guarantee privacy, controlled reverberation time for speech intelligibility, minimization of intrusive background noise from building systems, and consideration of electroacoustic methods to support individuals with hearing impairments. The analysis highlights that, while there are broader concepts of acoustic design, meeting the specific needs of psychotherapy requires adherence to fundamental principles of acoustic engineering. The article argues that the absence of acoustic standards customised for therapy spaces in Ukraine represents a significant challenge to providing high-quality mental healthcare. It concludes that establishing clear and measurable acoustic criteria is a vital infrastructure to support psychological recovery and lays the groundwork for developing such essential standards.

Keywords

#acoustic comfort #psychotherapy #therapy spaces #sound insulation #reverberation time #noise control #speech intelligibility #acoustic standards #therapeutic environment

References

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