My experience with online therapy or teletherapy is positive. I have not noticed any degradation in outcomes based solely on whether therapy is offered online or in person. There are times when I ask teletherapy clients to come in due to attachment issues, avoidant anxiety, suicidal thinking or gestures, and crisis events arising. Sometimes clients prefer in-person to online. There’s a lot to be said for the energy transfer in the therapy room for some people. For them, at least for a time, proximity seems to be critically important. However, I say again, I have not noticed outcomes differing based on whether or not therapy is performed in the office.

If you like the idea of video therapy, consider these important components of successful sessions:

Privacy - I am responsible to protect your confidentiality; you are not. Although privacy is generally considered crucial for effective therapy to take place, there are cases where a young child is in the room with a mom who is having a session at home with no childcare help or another family member walks through the room during a session. Sometimes clients have their sessions in their parked cars. They are not totally shielded from being seen, and sometimes this inhibits full emotional expression.

Quiet environment - At least quiet enough to be able to hear well

Good quality, high speed Internet access to accommodate uninterrupted streaming