Time passes and, with it, our way of understanding both mental health and the way in which it should be cared for by professionals also changes.
One of the aspects in which this is clearly seen has to do with the emergence and consolidation of online psychotherapy. If a little over a decade ago the possibility of offering support to patients through the Internet seemed like an eccentricity, today it is part of the daily work of many psychologists. In fact, it is an upward trend.
What is this about? Throughout this article We will see what are the reasons why online therapy is increasingly popular receiving increasing attention from both patients and professionals.
Anyone who has been in contact with the world of applied psychology will have realized that, at least in the case of Spain, there has been a notable increase in the number of psychologists, psychotherapy offices and health clinics that offer online psychotherapy services.
This is a phenomenon that has emerged in recent years , and that does not simply have to do with the crisis produced by the pandemic and the confinement of 2020; Although the latter has influenced the acceleration of the trend, online therapy has quickly gained ground on its own merits.
This is due in part to something that has made its existence possible: the development of video calling technologies Until recently, although it was technically possible to make this type of connection with other people through a computer, the signal was too weak or slow for communication to be fluid. This allowed us to spend a few minutes talking, but the errors in the transmission meant that the images had little detail and that on many occasions the image or the sound suffered stoppages.
Therefore, the differences between a face-to-face conversation and one carried out through one of these virtual platforms were evident, and those who participated in them had to dedicate a certain time and effort to “deciphering” what the other wanted to say to them. cause of the lack of non-verbal and, sometimes, verbal information.
But in recent years, the number of people with access to a good Internet connection has made it possible for millions of people to avoid such technical obstacles; In this context, already It is possible to verify the usefulness of online therapy without obtaining distorted results due to poor transmission of data due to technological limitations. And from this, the advantages of online therapy have been appreciated.
What are the advantages of using online psychotherapy?
From our perspective as psychology professionals, the beneficial aspects that explain the increase in popularity of the supply and demand of online therapy are, mainly, the following.
1. Gives the possibility of saving time
With online therapy, patients save the time spent traveling to the center where the psychologist serves in person. This is not only more convenient and cheaper; besides, allows therapy sessions to be more easily included in the schedule
Since it is not necessary to leave home to “go to the psychologist”, patients can talk to the professional in an environment that feels familiar. In many cases this makes it easier for them to openly and honestly express their problems and their feelings about them.
3. It does not require you to always be in the same place
Another aspect why online therapy is in high demand is that allows you not to interrupt treatment even if you have to travel or in case of not having left the place where you work due to delays, overtime, etc.
4. Provide discretion
Although everything said in therapy is always confidential, There are those who appreciate the possibility of having even more discretion thanks to online therapy, by not having to enter the center where the psychologist works.
5. It has the effectiveness of face-to-face therapy
Finally, it is worth highlighting something fundamental: the effects of online therapy are comparable to those of in-person therapy for the majority of problems to be treated. With some exceptions, such as treatments that involve the use of equipment that cannot be created in a digital version and those aimed at very young children, There are no significant differences in either the magnitude or duration of the results obtained
