Is Virtual Psychotherapy of Lesser Quality Than In-Person?

Is Virtual Psychotherapy of Lesser Quality Than In-Person?

Now that online therapy, or its synonyms—teletherapy, behavioral telehealth, virtual therapy, internet therapy—is widespread in the mental health field, the treatment frame is often inverted such that instead of clients visiting the therapist’s room, the therapist is visiting the client’s room, or car, or favorite neighborhood walking route. What are the privacy implications of this? How inwardly honest and honestly inward—in a sustained, engrossed way—can clients get when there is fear of random breaches in privacy?

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The Ups and Downs of Online Therapy

The Ups and Downs of Online Therapy

Almost overnight, given the Covid pandemic, therapists were compelled to make the switch to teletherapy to preserve continuity of care with their clients. The urgency of the situation dictated that we snap to it and quickly get up to speed on the latest digital platforms and alternative modes of offering therapy. There has been precious little time to reflect on the pros and cons of all this on the quality of therapy we offer. Now that the novelty has worn off and we are able to step back and analyze the situation, what does the switch to teletherapy portend for our profession?

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