Communicating in person is the traditional feature of Psychotherapy that is administered by counsellors and psychotherapist. The therapist interacts closely with patients to resolve the mental problems that they encounter in life.
It can be related to mental stress arising from personal relationship or work that becomes unmanageable. There may be many other situations that expose people to unwanted mental stress. Sudden grief from bereavement or problems of addictions to alcohol, drugs, tobacco and even compulsive gambling can drive people to extreme depression. This is when psychotherapists show the way to overcome the mental problems.
With the spread of the internet, the channels of communication have been widened and some psychotherapists have taken advantage of it. Psychological counselling is now available online. Patients who are unable or unwilling to go for in-person counselling can now opt for online counselling to address the problems of mental health.
This is known as online therapy. Psychological support and advice that is at the core of mental health treatment is now administered through e mail, chats instant messaging and video conferencing. Depending on the mode of online communication online therapy can be real time when done through video conferencing or chat. Using E mail entails a time delayed format for the therapy.
The online therapy has turned out to be very convenient for patients of psychotherapy, who are relieved of spending time at clinics. But whether this new approach can be considered to be the same as traditional Psychotherapy has to be understood properly.
It is true that therapists offer advice online and many people have found it useful, but it can never be considered as Psychotherapy that is based on face to face interaction with patients. At best, e-therapy, as it is also known can be compared to life-coaching that deals in development of life skills. Online therapy can provide guidance and advice but it can never treat mental illness nor diagnose it. It can support Psychotherapy only.
Online mental health treatment is an accepted practice today, despite the debate about its effectiveness in diagnosing and treating the disease. Although the method has attracted patients many of whom have found the sessions to be very satisfying, the mental health professionals are far from convinced. They do not think that online therapy can work. At best, it has been found to benefit a small section of patients like those suffering from addiction.
Despite the convenience of maintaining complete privacy in online counselling, the aspect of unreliable technology that can affect the sessions is a matter of concern.
Since online self-help groups have assisted patients of mental health for more than two decades, people are yet to get used to the concept of paying for online counselling. That it is not covered by medical insurance is worrying people.
However, the satisfaction of some patients is good indication about the future prospects of online therapy. We will have to wait to see if it can benefit larger sections of mental health patients.