Teletherapy

​Is​ tele-therapy as effective as in-person therapy?

Yes ! Online counseling appears to be as effective as in-person therapy in most cases. Research demonstrates that online therapy is working for a variety of mental health disorders including depression, trauma, eating disorders, pain management and addiction to name a few. Therapists are able to utilize the same evidence- based therapy techniques that they would use in-person.

Research suggests that clients and therapists are able to build online relationship connections that are meaningful and intimate. The fit between client and therapist, a combination of  personality match and expertise, continues to be one of the most important factors in the effectiveness of therapy.  

A study from JD Power found that Customer satisfaction with telehealth services is high: “The overall customer satisfaction score for telehealth services is 851 (on a 1,000-point scale), and is 900 or higher among 46% of telehealth users. These customer satisfaction scores are among the highest of all healthcare, insurance and financial services industry studies conducted by J.D. Power.” https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2019-us-telehealth-satisfaction-study.

How to create the optimal setting for a virtual therapy session?

Overall comfort with technology plays a huge role in satisfaction with online counseling. Overcoming technology resistance and allowing oneself to relax, tell your story, be vulnerable, share emotions and develop an authentic relationship with the therapist is beginning to happen for many people. Our collective experience with COVID-19 has given client and therapist alike a crash-course in exposure therapy to virtual social connection. Zoom for work and social interaction has normalized an online social life.

Here are some considerations for an optimal tele-therapy session:

• Do you know how to operate your video and audio?

• Do you want direct eye-contact by looking at the camera?

• Do you want to see your own image on the screen? Or do you want to minimize your image?

• How close to the screen do you want to sit?

• What kind of background do you want to display? Your room? Or a photo-background

• Minimize distractions.

For tips on how to create a healing space, check out this blog post.

Technology Tips

Here’s the equipment needed for a virtual session:

• Computer, phone or tablet with internally integrated speaker, microphone, and camera. External cameras and speakers are available.

• Headphones (if your device does not have high quality speakers integrated or if you want more privacy)

• Access to a high speed internet connection. Use Google’s speed test to test the quality of your internet. If either your download or upload speed is below 3 Mbps, you should consider upgrading your internet connection. Close all other browsers and applications to ensure a better connection. Although Wifi is compatible with most telehealth platforms, when possible we recommend using a wired Ethernet connection instead of using Wifi. Wired internet provides a better connection that is more stable. If your computer does not have an ethernet port, you can purchase this ethernet adapter to switch to a wired connection.