Mental health crisis is a humanitarian crisis that is affecting millions of people across the world. Unfortunately, not all of them have access to or the means to receive appropriate professional care. Virtual therapy is a means to bridge this divide. Virtual therapy is psychotherapy that is carried out over call, text, email, or videocall. Virtual therapy tries to replicate the essence of in-person therapy with added benefits.
Virtual therapy can sometimes be far more effective for certain groups of clients. For instance, people with social anxiety are more likely to accept virtual therapy than in-person therapy; as are people with reduced mobility, survivors of trauma or abuse. Recent studies also show that people are more likely to adhere to virtual treatment when compared to in-person treatment due to various reasons such as cost and logistics.
There are several benefits to choosing virtual therapy over in-person therapy, such as:
Accessibility: Therapy sessions are available at any time of the day, and can fit your needs without causing hindrance to your schedule. Virtual therapy also enables you to seek timely intervention without any delay. This form of therapy is also useful for people who find it difficult to take time off during work hours, have difficulty procuring childcare, have transportation issues, and more.
Finances: Virtual sessions tend to cost lesser than in-person sessions. This will enable a larger population to access mental health care. This will also enable you to get in touch with your therapist more regularly.
Anonymity: Although the stigma around mental health has reduced over the past few years, there is still some stigma attached to seeking mental health care. This can easily be tackled by choosing virtual therapy sessions, wherein your identity can be kept anonymous and you can choose to disclose as much or little as you feel comfortable; or choose to remain completely anonymous during the sessions.
Choices: It is important to be able to establish a good client-therapist relationship for psychotherapy to be as effective as it can be. Virtual therapy allows you to choose from a vast variety of specialized therapists from all over the world to suit your needs. This can help a lot of clients be in control of themselves and their treatment.
Although there are marked benefits to virtual therapy, it is important to allow a professional to assess your condition and its severity and take their opinion into consideration before choosing between virtual and in-person therapy.