Benefits of Online Therapy

It is not uncommon that people find a time in their lives where they need a helping hand to understand what is going on for them, process experiences or change behaviours. Online therapy with one of our experienced clinical or counselling psychologists is somewhere this can be done.

I can appreciate that when we imagine what therapy may look like, many of us tend to imagine face-to-face. My belief is that is tends to be influenced by how you've seen others access therapy before, and if that's only in films or tv shows, then your expectation will be face-to-face, and so the concept of online therapy might feel a bit odd.

Online therapy has actually been around for a long time, but the covid pandemic definitely increased it's prevalence, including it being available in some NHS services. We are one service that only provides only therapy and we have received great feedback on it.

There are some great benefits to online therapy:

(1) Reduced cost - online therapy can be accessed for a lower price in many instances as the therapist will have reduced outgoings like therapy room rental.

(2) No travelling - being able to access therapy from your own home or office can mean that you can fit it in after work, or perhaps you live in an isolated region and the nearest therapy clinic is an hours drive away, or perhaps you have mobility difficulties and attending an appointment would use up significant energy that would be needed for therapy.

(3) One study reported that clients felt more able to share emotions or experiences in online therapy compared to face-to-face (Cook & Doyle, 2002).

(4) Familiar setting - you can have your favourite chair, favourite mug, comfy clothes, whatever you need to help you feel most comfortable and grounded.

(5) Privacy at home - privacy at home is a privilege that sadly not everyone has. For some, the thought of bumping into someone they know near or in a therapy clinic is terrifying and enough of a barrier for them to avoid seeking additional support. Being able to access support from the privacy of your home is crucial for some.

(6) More therapists available - many of our psychologists also work in the NHS. If they needed to travel to a clinic after work during rush hour, many of them would simply not be able to do it. More therapists means a greater range of availability of appointments but also therapy modalities and specialisms.

The key thing is that although some people have a preference for face-to-face, online therapy is just as effective as face-to-face therapy (Ruuward et al., 2012). Please get in touch if you'd like to organsie a free initial consultation with our team lead to find out more about online therapy and how we can work together.