Aída María Rubio: "Online psychotherapy is heading towards its consolidation"

Online psychotherapy is an area of ​​technological development that, despite being in its initial expansion, already has several years of experience. Years that allow us to learn about the possibilities and potential it offers in the field of mental health and psychological intervention.

In short, in many ways distance psychological therapy services are still in the phase of rapid changes, typical of the stage of launching a type of product or service. Where are these transformations heading? We talked about the evolution of online therapy with Aída María Rubio, health psychologist and coordinator of the TherapyChat team of psychologists.

Interview with Aída María Rubio: Changes and trends in online therapy

Aída María Rubio is a psychologist and coordinator of the team of psychotherapists at TherapyChat, an online psychology platform founded in 2016 in Madrid. In this interview, she talks about how the field of video call counseling has evolved in recent times.

Are there still many people who have never heard of online therapy?

After this year of a pandemic, few people will be unaware that almost all services can move online. Within the population interested in taking care of their mental health, there is little doubt that they will know about online therapy. But obviously it is a question that is surely unknown by many people who have never had a concern about psychology.

What is it that is gaining popularity online therapy?

The most obvious answer today is: the pandemic. We cannot deny that it has precipitated a boom in the use of online. In the first place, because during the total confinement we had no other option, neither therapists nor patients. But secondly because, although we already knew the advantages and effectiveness of online therapy, This situation has precipitated that professionals and patients experience it first-hand and collapse their prejudices. Not only that, but they are even enjoying its comfort.

Nowadays, online therapy is not only providing us with the advantages and comfort that we already knew before, but they are added other factors such as not having to expose ourselves in the middle of the pandemic to circulate in public transport to move to cabinets face-to-face; we avoid being in closed spaces, especially if the patient is afraid of the disease or related factors; and, of course, allow us to do therapy without wearing a mask, which is not only a relief but also allows you to read the patient's non-verbal language much better and also transmit more through our gestures.

Many patients have even preferred to continue using the therapy in online modality instead of going back to face-to-face, despite being possible. Once myths about online therapy were dismantled, they have been more receptive to appreciating the time savings involved moving to a physical place, and the feeling of comfort and security of opening your emotions from your own sofa.

It goes without saying that this therapy modality is right now the preferred one of people who belong to the population at risk, since it allows them not to give up taking care of their mental health while also taking care of physical.

Could the emergence of online therapy change our conception of what psychological therapy is?

I wouldn't say something so radical. The therapy is the same, the psychology is the same, the therapists are the same. It is simply a matter of moving the psychology of all life to a different terrain. If as therapists we move from one cabinet to another, surely we will not find that our work changes. Online should be no different.

Yes, we have to be more creative and flexible in our methods; refine some of our skills to continue transmitting the same warmth to our patients; and research on online therapy is accelerating, as well as the creation of numerous very satisfactory technological resources that allow us to enrich our work online. But in essence, the therapy is the same, it has the same objectives, and for the patient it should mean the same thing: a path in search of her well-being. This is the maxim that continues to guide us, whether we do therapy in the middle of the field, in a hospital, an office or a screen.

Taking into account that in the 21st century society and technological development advance very fast, what are the main changes and trends that you have noticed in the field of online therapy since you launched TherapyChat?

At first we were pioneers in Spain and there was hardly any competition. What's more, we really had no comparison in terms of method since other services used chat or the phone, but we We always bet on video calling because it is a much more genuine system and allows a better alliance between therapist and patient.

Today, and especially since the beginning of the pandemic, online psychology platforms and derivatives emerge around every corner. This actually encourages us to continue growing and polishing the platform to offer a better service to psychologists and patients every day.

We are lucky, it must be said, not to have started a year ago and not to have built a castle too quickly. If not, thanks to the fact that we bet long before on this format, we have been able to grow at the level of technology very little by little to have an absolutely secure platform today.

We know that more research is currently being done to adapt different techniques and treatments to the online format.

In this sense, everyone is getting the hang of it, because online psychology is no longer the future, but it is the present and it will stay with us from now on, it will no longer start behind. Thus, for example, training is now being offered to adapt EMDR to online, and in the field of autism very interesting programs are being implemented in online format. These are just a couple of examples out of many.

From your point of view, what aspects of online therapy have a potential that can be further developed?

Right now a beautiful world of innovation is opening up. It is a raw field to create good apps that allow an accurate evaluation of the patient, to allow patients keep a log of intersession tasks, to support the implementation of certain techniques during the session, and a long etc.

How do you think online psychotherapy will continue to evolve in the coming years?

We talk about this often, not only internally but with a large number of therapists in Spain and England. The prevailing opinion is that online therapy is no longer going away. Although we reach the end of this pandemic, we have all seen the convenience of using online services and doing all kinds of procedures without moving or queuing. In this we do not differ from other services such as online doctor, online tax advice, etc.

We are all on the same path because we live in a very busy society and we really have to respond to life as it is. Now, with realism and not with utopias, such as extending the day 25 hours to be able to cover all our tasks plus transfers included.

We already believed in what we were doing and now we are very happy to see that the rest also believe in it. Of course there will always be people who are reluctant or who do not feel comfortable in the online environment, and it is absolutely respectable. Online psychotherapy will never seek to replace face-to-face therapy, nor will it be able to. There are people who must receive their therapy in person, especially if we are talking about serious mental health problems.

But we are sure that a higher percentage of the population will use online therapy. This experience is serving to normalize it, to demystify it and to make it warmer and closer than many mistakenly believed it to be. Perhaps even, hopefully, it helps to normalize therapy so much by making it more accessible and affordable, that in Spain it will begin to be better seen to go to therapy.

On the other hand, many have finally seen its effectiveness first-hand and that this was not a matter of believing or not believing, because since The 60s have been investigating the effectiveness of Telepsychology in all its formats and it already has a lot of endorsement scientific.

Where is online psychotherapy headed? Towards its consolidation. It already has the scientific endorsement, we have already opened the doors to it at the population level, we are already integrating it into our lives and professions and normalizing it... The next step is to consolidate it and from there make it grow with more research and creating richer resources that reach not only the private but also the public sphere.