You’re here to get an important question answered, “is online therapy right for me?” Due to the pandemic, many therapists made the switch to offering 100% online therapy or are doing a hybrid. Many of us set up shop in our homes and created a visually-appealing backdrop for our clients to look at when they log in. You have also probably had to migrate some facets of your life to being online. For some time, adolescents and teens were doing online school, while their parents monitored from home and worked virtually at their own jobs. I hope after reading this, you can leave with some important questions answered and any concerns assured.

 

Is Online Therapy Just as Effective as In-person?

 

It’s important to ensure that the type of therapy you choose will be the most effective for you. Therapy is not only a time commitment, but a financial investment. Therefore, you want to ensure that you are getting the best bang for your buck. Research has found that online therapy is “essentially just as effective” as in-person therapy (https://www.apa.org/monitor/2020/07/cover-telepsychology#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWhat%20we’ve%20seen%20is,has%20spent%20his%20career%20studying). Specific benefits of online therapy include, but are not limited to: ability to see any therapist in your state, no commute, and ability to have appointments in the comfort of your home. I’ve enjoyed being able to explore how people’s furry companions and unique comfort items (i.e. blankets, candles, etc) at home can help them to regulate their emotions in the appointment.

 

I’ve noticed that online therapy is just as effective as in-person therapy for couples when all members are in the same room. This mirrors the feel of an in-person couples therapy appointment. Being in the same room allows you and your partner to be able to turn physically towards one another, maintain eye contact, and comfort through physical touch, as needed. These factors help to increase intimacy and aid effective communication which are common couples therapy goals.

 

Who is Online Therapy Appropriate For?

 

Online therapy is appropriate and effective when you are physically located in the same state that your therapist holds a license. I’m licensed to practice therapy in the state of Virginia. Virginia has its own unique licensure requirements – like coursework and residency hours – and these can differ amongst states. I’m also familiar with local emergency resources in Virginia, particularly in the Hampton Roads area and in Northern Virginia. Therefore, if you were to have an emergency, I would already have access to the pertinent resources. 

 

Online therapy is appropriate when you are stable and hoping to help manage your symptoms, but becomes less appropriate when you are experiencing self-harm or in crisis. In these instances, in-person therapy would be more effective as the therapist can better assess the severity of these issues and provide the appropriate care. Visual cues that are vital for effectively addressing self-harm are sometimes lacking in online therapy.

 

Will Insurance Pay for Online Therapy?

 

Insurance plans now widely cover online therapy as they do with in-person therapy. Typically, insurance will reimburse online therapy at the same rate as in person-therapy. This means that you would be responsible for the same deductible, co-payment or co-insurance. To avoid any unexpected expense, I recommend calling the member services number located on the back of your insurance card. You’ll inquire about your mental health/behavioral health benefits and ask if online therapy is covered by your plan. 

 

What about Technical Difficulties?

 

Online therapy has a number of benefits – such as making it easier to attend appointments – and occasionally, has its hiccups. Before we start therapy, we do our consult via the same therapy platform we will use for our appointments. This consult will not only give us an idea of whether I will be the best fit to work with you, but will also allow you to familiarize yourself with the technology. Here’s a pre-appointment checklist to ensure a smooth appointment:

 

1. Exit all non-therapy related applications 
2. Move closer to your router or connect your computer to your router with an ethernet cord

 

I also follow this same checklist and am hard wired into my router. If all these measures fail, I use a hotspot on my phone or we can switch over to an audio-only appointment on our phones. Funny enough, any technical issues I’ve encountered have been resolved by simply you and I exiting out of our therapy platform to refresh, and logging back in.

 

Ensuring privacy is also important for us to have a smooth appointment. Therapy is more effective when you aren’t worried about being overheard by another. I conduct our appointments in an empty, private office and use a sound machine to drown out any noise from our appointments or my neighbors. I recommend that you also find a private space in your home to log in from. If you are worried about being overheard, I recommend putting another device outside of your closed door to play white noise or music. There are free white noise apps on the App Store.

 

If you are leaving this blog with new questions about online therapy, or don’t feel assured please feel free to contact me at admin@chesapeakebaycounselingpllc.com. If you have decided that online therapy will not be the right modality for you, please also email me for referrals to therapists who are offering in-person services.