Online therapy is a great way to receive mental health support. Throughout this website, you will learn about the benefits of online therapy, as well as some concerns that researchers have regarding ethical and privacy concerns. The advantages and disadvantages of online therapy and face-to-face therapy are discussed more in depth, along with the similarities and differences between both therapies. Lastly, the educational side of online therapy is discussed.
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Overview of Online Therapy
Benefits:
There are many benefits to online therapy. Online therapy is very accessible. It offers mental health services to people who live in low-income areas or do not have any mental health services that is in a reasonable driving distance. It is also accessible to individuals who are disabled or unable to leave their home due to illnesses (Ybarra et al., 2005). Online therapy is convenient, unlike face-to-face therapy. With face-to-face therapy, it can take up to a couple of months to get into your first therapy session, but with online therapy, you can receive therapy right away. Patients can have more communication throughout the day with their therapist and receive the encouragement and support they need (Andersson et al., 2014). Crisis Text Line is a free, 24/7, text line that is available for individuals to text in when they are in a crisis. It is very convenient because this text line has counselors who are available to talk to texters at any time and help with their crisis that they are in (Schwab-Reese et al., 2018). Another benefit is being able to remain anonymous. Clients tend to share more information to their therapist if they remain anonymous because they do not have to worry about the fear of being discriminated or judged (Ybarra et al., 2005). There are a lot of reasons why a client would want to remain anonymous and another one is that they do not want their personal information to be shared to legal authorities that could get them in trouble (Schwab-Reese et al., 2018). Another benefit of online therapy is that clients tend to share personal information early on in the conversation due to being able to be anonymous. There is research that has been done that shows that texters are more likely to share about the abuse they face in the very first message sent to the therapist than any other type of personal information (Schwab-Reese et al., 2018). Online therapy is less nerve-wracking to the clients because they do not have to deal with the stress and anxiety of having a face-to-face conversation (Klomek et al., 2014). The last benefit that will be discussed is how affordable it is. Some mental health services are free like Crisis Text Line. Whereas other services have a low price to them that is much lower than a face-to-face session (Klomek et al., 2014). There are more benefits discussed in the video at the top of this page. Also, there is a more in-depth discussion of the advantages of online therapy found at: Benefits
Face-to-Face vs. Online Therapy:
The advantages and disadvantages of face-to-face therapy and online therapy will be discussed, along with the differences and similarities between the two. To start, online therapy has many advantages. This type of therapy is preferred more by younger individuals because they tend to feel safer when sharing their personal information through the screen and don’t have as much anxiety about their therapist’s reaction (Hanley et al., 2017). There are a lot more advantages that is discussed in the Benefits page. There is some disadvantages of online therapy. It can be difficult to understand the message that the therapist or client is trying to get across because they do not have that advantage of observing one another’s nonverbal cues. Therapist do not get to see their client’s initial reactions and help them process that initial thought to understand and change their thoughts and behaviors of something (Hanley et al., 2017). There are more disadvantages that is discussed in the Privacy and Ethical Concerns page. Face-to-face therapy has a great amount of advantages. This form of therapy has great success rates when working with all ages, especially younger children (Pester et al., 2019) and parents who are incarcerated (Datchi et al., 2013). There is research that has been found to discuss these finding that can be further discussed in the Face-to-Face vs. Online page. However, there are disadvantages. Face-to-face therapy is expensive and oftentimes, insurance does not cover mental health treatment. It is not accessible for people who live in secluded or low-income areas. It is also not accessible for people who have illnesses that prevent them from leaving the house or mental health centers being too far of a drive (Rauch, 2016). There are quite a few more disadvantages of face-to-face therapy that will be discussed. Online therapy and face-to-face therapy have their differences and similarities. An example of a difference between the two is that face-to-face therapy can help clients who have serious mental illnesses a lot more compared to online therapy (Datchi et al., 2013). An example of a similarity between the two is that both therapies want to help clients to improve their mental health and care deeply about helping their client (Rauch, 2016). More in-depth research findings can be found on the Face-to-Face vs. Online page.
Privacy and Ethical Concerns:
This website focuses a bit on the privacy and ethical concerns individuals may have when considering online therapy as a resource for their mental health. Whenever going to a therapist, you always want to make sure that your information is private and that the practices performed adhere to the ethical guidelines in any form of therapy. This is also true for the internet as well. Online therapy and different forms of face-to- face therapies have many advantages and disadvantages. This can be seen in the Benefits section of this website. As you will figure out, there are many sites that deal with online therapies but with so many choices, it can be hard to choose. There is much research on these matters that will be discussed more in-depth in the Privacy and Ethical Concerns section. There are some tips and take-away notes involving privacy and ethics and the research that was found. One, always make sure the site you are on is legitimate and ask questions before sharing your information. Two, make sure the therapist you are dealing with has the knowledge needed to ensure that you're getting the good advice. Three, always be careful what you share. Unlike face-to-face, the internet has many ways for others to pry into your information. As always, make sure the site you are using is secure. Oftentimes, a secure website will have that lock symbol right beside the URL.
More to Know:
This section will cover over some of the weaknesses or barriers, which is the opposite of the Benefits section, that one may face when starting on the path of online therapy. This section will also be going over some information that you may have not known, in order to help make your experience better and more cost efficient. This section is to make you more aware of certain aspects of the online therapy world so that you can feel more assured that you are pursuing a better path in making your mental health better. Finally, to conclude you must ask questions because the more knowledge you have, the more prepared you will be prepared for what comes ahead.
Benefits:
There are many benefits to online therapy. Online therapy is very accessible. It offers mental health services to people who live in low-income areas or do not have any mental health services that is in a reasonable driving distance. It is also accessible to individuals who are disabled or unable to leave their home due to illnesses (Ybarra et al., 2005). Online therapy is convenient, unlike face-to-face therapy. With face-to-face therapy, it can take up to a couple of months to get into your first therapy session, but with online therapy, you can receive therapy right away. Patients can have more communication throughout the day with their therapist and receive the encouragement and support they need (Andersson et al., 2014). Crisis Text Line is a free, 24/7, text line that is available for individuals to text in when they are in a crisis. It is very convenient because this text line has counselors who are available to talk to texters at any time and help with their crisis that they are in (Schwab-Reese et al., 2018). Another benefit is being able to remain anonymous. Clients tend to share more information to their therapist if they remain anonymous because they do not have to worry about the fear of being discriminated or judged (Ybarra et al., 2005). There are a lot of reasons why a client would want to remain anonymous and another one is that they do not want their personal information to be shared to legal authorities that could get them in trouble (Schwab-Reese et al., 2018). Another benefit of online therapy is that clients tend to share personal information early on in the conversation due to being able to be anonymous. There is research that has been done that shows that texters are more likely to share about the abuse they face in the very first message sent to the therapist than any other type of personal information (Schwab-Reese et al., 2018). Online therapy is less nerve-wracking to the clients because they do not have to deal with the stress and anxiety of having a face-to-face conversation (Klomek et al., 2014). The last benefit that will be discussed is how affordable it is. Some mental health services are free like Crisis Text Line. Whereas other services have a low price to them that is much lower than a face-to-face session (Klomek et al., 2014). There are more benefits discussed in the video at the top of this page. Also, there is a more in-depth discussion of the advantages of online therapy found at: Benefits
Face-to-Face vs. Online Therapy:
The advantages and disadvantages of face-to-face therapy and online therapy will be discussed, along with the differences and similarities between the two. To start, online therapy has many advantages. This type of therapy is preferred more by younger individuals because they tend to feel safer when sharing their personal information through the screen and don’t have as much anxiety about their therapist’s reaction (Hanley et al., 2017). There are a lot more advantages that is discussed in the Benefits page. There is some disadvantages of online therapy. It can be difficult to understand the message that the therapist or client is trying to get across because they do not have that advantage of observing one another’s nonverbal cues. Therapist do not get to see their client’s initial reactions and help them process that initial thought to understand and change their thoughts and behaviors of something (Hanley et al., 2017). There are more disadvantages that is discussed in the Privacy and Ethical Concerns page. Face-to-face therapy has a great amount of advantages. This form of therapy has great success rates when working with all ages, especially younger children (Pester et al., 2019) and parents who are incarcerated (Datchi et al., 2013). There is research that has been found to discuss these finding that can be further discussed in the Face-to-Face vs. Online page. However, there are disadvantages. Face-to-face therapy is expensive and oftentimes, insurance does not cover mental health treatment. It is not accessible for people who live in secluded or low-income areas. It is also not accessible for people who have illnesses that prevent them from leaving the house or mental health centers being too far of a drive (Rauch, 2016). There are quite a few more disadvantages of face-to-face therapy that will be discussed. Online therapy and face-to-face therapy have their differences and similarities. An example of a difference between the two is that face-to-face therapy can help clients who have serious mental illnesses a lot more compared to online therapy (Datchi et al., 2013). An example of a similarity between the two is that both therapies want to help clients to improve their mental health and care deeply about helping their client (Rauch, 2016). More in-depth research findings can be found on the Face-to-Face vs. Online page.
Privacy and Ethical Concerns:
This website focuses a bit on the privacy and ethical concerns individuals may have when considering online therapy as a resource for their mental health. Whenever going to a therapist, you always want to make sure that your information is private and that the practices performed adhere to the ethical guidelines in any form of therapy. This is also true for the internet as well. Online therapy and different forms of face-to- face therapies have many advantages and disadvantages. This can be seen in the Benefits section of this website. As you will figure out, there are many sites that deal with online therapies but with so many choices, it can be hard to choose. There is much research on these matters that will be discussed more in-depth in the Privacy and Ethical Concerns section. There are some tips and take-away notes involving privacy and ethics and the research that was found. One, always make sure the site you are on is legitimate and ask questions before sharing your information. Two, make sure the therapist you are dealing with has the knowledge needed to ensure that you're getting the good advice. Three, always be careful what you share. Unlike face-to-face, the internet has many ways for others to pry into your information. As always, make sure the site you are using is secure. Oftentimes, a secure website will have that lock symbol right beside the URL.
More to Know:
This section will cover over some of the weaknesses or barriers, which is the opposite of the Benefits section, that one may face when starting on the path of online therapy. This section will also be going over some information that you may have not known, in order to help make your experience better and more cost efficient. This section is to make you more aware of certain aspects of the online therapy world so that you can feel more assured that you are pursuing a better path in making your mental health better. Finally, to conclude you must ask questions because the more knowledge you have, the more prepared you will be prepared for what comes ahead.
As long as you have access to the internet, a computer or even a phone you can get into online therapy at any time of the day so why not now!