The 5 psychological keys that explain the effectiveness of online therapy

Apparently, the online therapy sessions, carried out through a digital video call platform, seem to be very different from those carried out face to face with the psychologist. The stereotypical image of the patient speaking from a sofa while the therapist takes notes sitting in a chair a short distance away is practically an icon, and that also makes talking and interacting from electronic devices shocking as a therapy idea psychological.

However, beyond these superficial differences, reality shows us that online psychotherapy by video call is perfectly comparable to the "classic model". On the one hand, scientific research shows us that its degree of effectiveness is the same as when you are in the same room that the psychotherapist, and on the other, in a very short time the number of people who have opted for this remote option has grown a lot. But why this?

• Related article: "The 9 benefits of online psychological therapy"

The main psychological keys behind the effectiveness of online therapy

Every psychological phenomenon is multi-caused; that is, it cannot be explained by looking only at a single fact. The psychotherapeutic process, as a psychological type process, is not an exception to this, and this means that whether a session goes well or not well does not depend solely on one factor to be taken into account.

That is why the effectiveness of online therapy is not caused by one of its characteristics; here we will see a summary of various aspects of this psychological intervention format that help to understand why it works and is effective for a wide variety of problems. There are probably many more, but these are the ones we consider most important.

1. Sources of stress are reduced by saving us the transfer

The rush, the physical effort to get to the consultation and the fact of managing the transfer time well These are aspects that can stress or fatigue us relatively easily. With online therapy, we start the session without this type of element with the potential to wear us down.

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2. It offers the possibility of being in a safe and familiar place

Doing therapy is leaving home or another place that we know well and offers us calm and privacy. In this way there are fewer stimuli or contextual elements that distract us or that can disturb some people prone to stress, and in this way it is easier to “immerse” in the therapy process from the first session.

• You may be interested in: "The 5 phases of stress (and how to combat them)"

3. The flow of non-verbal communication is not cut off

Verbal communication, based on the non-verbal language of our gestures, grimaces, postures and everything in voice, is very important in the therapeutic process. After all, all the problems to be addressed and overcome with the help of the psychologist are associated to emotions and feelings that are reflected not only in what we say, but also in how we say it.

That's why, psychotherapy professionals must both be able to pick up on these subtle cues that are beyond words, how to adapt to those emotional states in real time. The objective is both to help the patient to move towards their goals of improvement and self-improvement, and to establish the appropriate psychologist-patient therapeutic relationship.

Online psychotherapy by video call is nowadays a format that allows us to collect most of the relevant aspects of non-verbal language. verbally, thanks to the fast data transmission of Internet services and the good quality of the cameras manufactured in the present.

4. It wins in discretion

Going to the psychologist is very normalized and it is generally assumed that anyone may need, at some point moment, resort to psychotherapy services, but there are still those who prefer to have discretion in these cases.

In this context, something as simple as not having to manage the fear that others "see us" by going to the psychologist's office makes many people's attitude more positive.

5. Most therapeutic tools are still available

Luckily, many therapeutic resources have their version adapted to the online format by video call. This means that the fact that the patient is far from the psychologist's office is almost never a limitation, except for exceptional cases in which the use of very specific three-dimensional materials is required, but in most cases they can be substituted.

Are you interested in having psychological assistance from experts?

If you are thinking of starting a psychotherapy process or are interested in having more information about the different psychological assistance services that exist both online and in person, contact us.

In Advance Psychologists We have been helping people of all ages for more than 20 years, and currently, in addition to psychotherapy by video call or in our center located in Madrid, we offer services of speech therapy, neuropsychology, psychiatric assistance, coaching, couples therapy and therapy familiar.

Bibliographic references:

• American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Fifth edition. DSM-V. Massón, Barcelona.
• Change, d. (2008). The Effectiveness of Telemental Health Applications. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 53:pp. 769 – 778.
• González-Peña, P., Torres, R., Del Barrio, V., and Olmedo, M. (2017). Use of technology in psychological practice in Spain. Infocop.
• Gratzer, D. and Khalid-Khan, F. (2016). Internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy in the treatment of psychiatric illness. CMAJ, 188(4)pp. 263 – 272.