Myths and truths about online psychology

We may well have heard that since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic online psychological consultations have increased more than 200%. This has led many people to wonder, with the advance of the pandemic, whether it is logical to bet on online therapy or return to face-to-face therapy, and this leads us to ask ourselves: Is online therapy as effective and beneficial as face-to-face?

To answer this question, we must first keep in mind that it is increasingly common to ask for psychological help (face-to-face or online), and it is as much as going to physical therapy sessions or medical appointments. Therefore, it is very logical that we ask ourselves more questions about psychological therapy and, specifically, about one of its already common modalities today, online therapy.

To this day there is still a lot of skepticism and many doubts regarding the possibility of going to psychological therapy, due to that this type of help can still be seen as something strange or distant, of which many people doubt as to its usefulness and effectiveness; all the more so if we talk about online therapy, which some people distrust.

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Knowing online therapy and what it entails

We are going to help you break myths and we are also going to ask what advantages we can find in online psychology, even compared to face-to-face therapy. Knowing them will encourage you to seek psychological help through this modality, leaving aside any doubts or reservations that you find when opting for this type of therapy.

1. Absence of displacement

To be able to carry out our session from our own home, or even sometimes from other places where we can feel comfortable, such as in a private room at work, is one of the great advantages of online therapy. It even offers us the possibility of not having to stop coming because of a trip or a vacation.

Not investing time in trips to the consultation, without a doubt allows time for other daily needs. Many people do not have enough time to attend face-to-face therapy, due to their jobs or taking care of children or other family members.

But in addition to the shortage of time, we must also talk about those who have difficulty getting around due to transportation issues. We are talking about people who live far from the closest psychologist, who do not have good communication channels or who have some kind of physical mobility difficulty. That is why the online mode will be a great incentive for these people.

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2. Flexible schedule

The flexibility in the schedule is undoubtedly another advantage that we can find in online psychology, since we can establish our consultation hours in agreement with the therapist in a more flexible way by avoiding commuting.

In this way, we will win in time and we will be able to achieve not only the improvements that we seek in our psychological well-being, but also we can choose that the moment is the most adjusted to our needs. This is very important, as we can better integrate therapy into our lives.

It should be noted that in online therapy, there is greater flexibility and ease in arranging the appointment of therapy between the therapist and the patient, also because the professional himself can work more flexibly. This is a great advantage and a benefit when choosing the online mode.

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3. Confidentiality

One of the most common questions when people consider resorting to online therapy is whether privacy is assured, or if our therapy may be exposed to the knowledge of other people.

Undoubtedly, online therapy, like face-to-face therapy, provides full confidentiality if the professional in charge of carrying it out respects all established professional standards and codes, this being a subject with which there is a high sensitivity on the part of psychology professionals. For this reason, it is always good to ask the professional about this point, and we must bear in mind that we will gain greater security in this regard if The sessions are being held through encrypted psychology platforms, such as TherapyChat, over services such as zoom or skype.

It is not a secret that, sometimes, one of the doubts that people raise when receiving psychological help is confidentiality and, sometimes, the doubt about this privacy can lead to give up receiving this help.

That is why we must assess in detail the option of receiving online therapy if this matter bothers us especially, since if the professional complies with all the necessary measures, we can also guarantee that no one will see us entering a physical psychology consultation, and we will not have to worry about the "walls of paper".

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4. Closeness and warmth

In turn, we find ourselves in doubt as to whether carrying out the therapy online will mean a barrier in terms of closeness to the psychologist or if there will be a certain coldness in the therapeutic relationship.

In response to this, online therapy does not pose a problem in this area, since interaction by video call involves the same level of communication between people that we can find in a face-to-face psychological consultation. And we can be sure that psychology professionals are experts in managing communication.

In this way, the difference will be found in that instead of having a table between patient and therapist, we we will find a screen, so in no case would there be a difficulty in terms of proximity and warmth with the professional.

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5. Immediacy before emergencies

Another point in favor of this type of therapy is that when an emergency or unexpected difficulty arises, the patient you will not have a great problem in communicating to your therapist the problem that has arisen, thus achieving a relief or resolution of these problems in the fastest, most efficient and accurate way possible.

In this sense, there may be a more immediate contact, being able to correct the difficulties that arose in the as little time as possible, managing to preserve anonymity and with total closeness between the patient and his therapist.

For this, the good adaptation of new technologies to online therapy It will undoubtedly be an advantage that we will find in this type of therapy compared to face-to-face therapy, where this type of help will not normally be as immediate as with online therapy, as it is not in such a context flexible.

6. Proven efficacy

Possibly, the biggest doubt when undergoing online therapy is whether the effectiveness of this type of therapy is similar or less than in face-to-face therapy. This questioning is expected in the face of a type of therapy that has a much shorter time course than face-to-face therapy. Nevertheless, current results show there is no difference in efficacy in the treatment of one type of therapy and another.

In fact, since the 60s of the last century, Telepsychology has been subjected to research, and the same effectiveness of treatments has been proven online as in the face to face and, even, higher levels of maintenance of these improvements have been registered after a while, as David Mohr assures (Doctor in Clinical Psychology and director from the Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who has devoted his career to research in this area).

Ultimately, the main factor in effectiveness is in the professional work of the therapist and the commitment of the patient. That is why if we find a suitable professional, with a high level of commitment on our part, we can only predict that online therapy will have a great prognosis of success.

In this way, all the doubts referred to in this area when opting for an online therapy, should not be in any case a barrier nor should they imply a resignation to receive necessary help for everyone at a complex moment of their life.

Concluding ...

After highlighting all these advantages within online therapy, we conclude that Knowing more about mental health and its benefits will help us to be aware of our mental health, at the same time that it can help us to make the decision to receive this type of help, with the online mode being an option that in many cases will make great sense.

Besides, learn and learn more about mental health and the possibility of receiving online therapy, it will help us to help close people that they may require psychological attention and that, perhaps due to their own circumstances or difficulties, they do not know or need guidance to resort to this type of help.

In this way, in the event of any doubt that may arise when performing an online therapy, We must bear in mind that despite the doubts, there are many points in favor to make the decision, What the absence of commuting, the flexible hours, the confidentiality, the closeness and warmth, the immediacy when faced with emergencies and the demonstrated efficiency.

Thus, faced with the need to improve our mental health in a complicated moment of our life, where for different reasons it may be difficult for us to go to a face-to-face consultation, online therapy will be a very helpful tool both for us and for those around us. And do not hesitate, going to therapy, in any way, is better than not going to any therapy.