There are many possibilities offered by the Internet for the work of the psychologist in online therapies, such as saving a session for later analysis, sending emails between sessions for follow-up, carrying out therapeutic sessions through chat, telephone … in addition to the use These tools do not require changes in the principles and practices in psychotherapy, since neither methods nor theories are modified.
But there are not only advantages for the psychologist but also the person who undergoes online therapy, benefits from them:
- Anonymity and intimacy are enhanced, facilitating sincerity and disinhibition in a therapeutic relationship with the online psychologist.
- Coverage and access are increased for people who, due to their personal circumstances, cannot follow traditional therapy: from disabled people who do not have mobility, people who have to travel long distances to find a therapy adjusted to their needs, people with certain psychological disorders or physicists who do not allow them to leave the house, even people who because of their problems feel stigmatized so they would never go to a traditional consultation, etc.
- Costs are reduced, since the consultation itself is cheaper as there are no costs derived from the maintenance of the premises that affect the price of the sessions, in the same way, that the user avoids costs derived from travel.
- It allows giving continuity and follow-up to the therapy between sessions, since thanks to the follow-up emails, the person is motivated to do their exercises at home, and makes it possible to resolve doubts in a more immediate way.
- It allows the patient to carry out the sessions whenever they want, without having to stop doing other activities and maintaining discretion, since in this case there is no need to ask for permission at work or study center.
- This therapy is very suitable for young people since they are very in contact with these tools, they handle them well, and they find them attractive and easy.
There are online counseling services that provide easy accessibility to online therapies, but you should only choose an online counseling service from its reviews and real reviews for Talkspace tells us about its desired anonymity for a highly interactive session. Online therapies can be characterized from the point of view of the interaction between psychologist and user, if both meet at the same time, the therapy is synchronous, in the case of intervention through chat or telephone, this type of therapy makes it possible most of the actions of a traditional psychological consultation. If this temporary meeting does not occur, the intervention is asynchronous, as is the case with mail, forums, etc.
Which promotes reflection and emotional relief through writing, in the same way, that they streamline the user’s psychoeducation. Therefore, depending on the therapeutic objective sought, one or other contact methodologies must be used. Online therapies are equally beneficial in child psychotherapy, in disorders such as encopresis, oppositional-defiant disorder, attention deficit, bedwetting, sleep disorders.
Likewise, online psychology is applied with good results to other areas such as psycho-oncology, psychiatric emergencies, the restructuring of irrational thoughts, suicide prevention, support for chronic diseases, sexual dysfunctions, adherence to treatment, insomnia, relaxation, overweight, emergencies and disasters, couples therapy, domestic violence, sex addiction, work stress.
