Online therapy
If you have thought about starting therapy, but didn’t go for it, you are not the only one. The Mental Health Services Administration in United States found out in one of their studies that 60% of the people in need of psychological assistance, do not get it. The three most common reasons named are social stigma, costs and accessibility. Online therapy addresses the latter.
With all the latest technology development we now have more opportunities to access the services we need, when we need and wherever we need them, including psychotherapy. You just need a device – like your laptop, tablet or smartphone – and a good internet connection – if you can stream Netflix without problems, then it’s a good enough internet connection to hold online therapy sessions.
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You will also need a space to talk from, a space where you feel comfortable to talk freely. It may be at your home, your office, even your car. Wherever you feel at ease. This is one of the advantages of online therapy – the more comfortable you feel in your own environment, the more easy it may be for you to discuss things with me.
Another advantage is for those of us who are in need of increasing their personal time. If you want to minimize the time you spend in traffic getting to and getting back from the office, online therapy is a great choice for you.
Online therapy is a relatively new practice, which brings with itself the limitation of the lack of research up to this point. This is what we know so far:
- a four years study conducted by Yale School of Medicine si US Department of Veteran Affairs showed that online therapy is just as effective as traditional face-to-face sessions.
- National Institute for Health Research from UK showed that online therapy can successfully treat mild depression.
- American Psychological Association endorses online therapy by licensed therapists.
- In another study 93% of the participants claim that they feel free to disscuss about any issue during their online sessions, as they would have been during face-to-face sessions; 95% of them also stated that they were satisfied with their online sessions, but that they felt less encouraged and supported than in their office meetings.
The main limit of doing online therapy are the complex psychological disorders, like personality disorders or severe affective disorders. This special diagnoses require the active and constant involvement of the psychologist inside his office.
In both my practices – online or in office, my professionalism and commitment are the same. I can assure you that my practice is guided by the confidentiality and ethical standards in whichever form you choose to work with me.