Telehealth Vs in Person Therapy
My first time working on-site in the field was in 2018. The world was a lot different then. If I had a time machine and you had asked me if therapy should be done in person or online, I would have said in person without a second thought, and most clinicians at the time would have agreed with me. But even then, I acknowledged the value of using technology to expand our reach. I was even working as an online crisis counselor but saw those services as a last resort for people unwilling or unable to access in-person services.
The concern was always about the quality of communication within the therapeutic space. Nonverbal communication can be more challenging to pick up on, and there was a fear that the online space was more impersonal and would hinder building rapport. This is an excellent example of clinicians working off vibes instead of research. We did not know it then, but we were about to get a flood of data to test our teletherapy assumptions.
In 2019, the world was rocked by the emergence of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. This unprecedented event forced a sudden and radical shift in the mental healthcare landscape. Overnight, I could not physically meet my patients, and we were all thrust into a world of technology we had previously shunned. Up until this point, the effectiveness of telehealth was up for debate, and therapists embracing teletherapy were losing that debate.
Necessity breeds innovation. Telehealth platforms rushed to become HIPAA compliant, and trials began en masse to evaluate whether these online interventions would work. The result surprised me. The research showed no difference in efficacy across various symptoms and diagnoses. The data unlocked tremendous potential to expand access to treatment, offering a hopeful future for mental healthcare. Because of this data and my ability to be more flexible with my time slots and reach people in all corners of Indiana, not just one city, I moved to be exclusively telehealth. For my specialization, trauma, processing in the comfort of an individual's home became a tremendous benefit.
These trends are a powerful reminder to myself and my profession to keep an open mind. We lost years that could have been spent expanding our reach and helping people in rural areas. So, whether you are a hesitant clinician or someone seeking treatment and apprehensive about trying an online platform, I encourage you to try it. Research has shown that telehealth is as effective as in-person therapy, so you can feel confident and secure trying it. You may learn that it is a better fit!