The Telepsychology Approach

Telepsychology, by phone, webcam, email or text message, has been around in one form or another for over 20 years. The ease and convenience of scheduling a therapy appointment online and talking with a therapist from the privacy of one’s own home can be a huge advantage for clients who cannot make into an office due to distance or anxiety symptoms. Further, for those unfamiliar with therapy, the online platform helps normalize mental health care, especially among younger generations now who are so accustomed to interacting with people using technology, that it makes the process that much easier.

About Getting Therapy Online

Online therapy is a very useful tool for those dealing with problems who want a short, quick answer, or who are unable to make it into a therapist’s office due to a busy schedule, financial concerns, or limited availability of specialists in their area. With telehealth, you can schedule a one-time consultation with an international expert on OCD from anywhere in the world and get your questions answered on the spot.

Benefits of Online Therapy

Clients should be aware of the potential benefits of receiving mental health services online. This includes both the circumstances in which the therapist considers online mental health services appropriate and the possible advantages of providing those services online. For example, the potential benefits of email may include:

• being able to send and receive messages at any time of day or night
• never having to leave messages with intermediaries
• avoiding intermediaries, voice mail, and telephone tag
• being able to take as long as one wants to compose messages
• automatically having a record of communications to refer to later
• feeling less inhibited than in person

In terms of OCD specifically, the online format allows the therapists to see a client’s living situation and devise exercises tailored for environment where clients spend most of their time.

Potential Risks of Online Therapy

Clients should also understand the potential risks of receiving mental health services online. For example, the potential risks of email may include:

• messages not being received
• confidentiality being breached
• no local therapist in case of an emergency

Email could fail to be received if they are sent to the wrong address (which might also breach of confidentiality) or if they just are not noticed by the counselor. Confidentiality could be breached in transit by hackers or Internet service providers or at either end by others with access to the email account or the computer. Extra safeguards should be considered when the computer is shared by family members, students, library patrons, etc. Make sure your therapist is using a HIPAA compliant means of online communication.

Additionally, sometimes people with mental health concerns have emergencies where they may feel at risk for harming themselves or others. They may need to spend time with a professional in person or be escorted to an emergency room. For this reason, when working remotely with clients at risk, it is very important that the client have a local provider if the online provider is far away. It is always best if all members of the treatment team can stay in touch with each other and confer on the client’s progress, and someone nearby should be available if there is a crisis or urgent need.