Here’s one web chat you’ll want to have: Online therapy may be just as effective as an in-person consultation, says a new Swiss study.
People suffering from mild to severe depression received either 8 weeks of face-to-face or online therapy. Researchers assessed the patients using a questionnaire before, during, and 3 months after treatment and found no significant difference in improvement between the two groups, regardless of depression severity.
The key ingredient to effective therapy is the relationship between client and counselor, says psychotherapist DeeAnna Nagel, cofounder of the Online Therapy Institute.
Online therapy sometimes works best because of perceived anonymity—the therapist knows the patient’s identity, but being online can feel anonymous—and the convenience of not having to travel to get relief, she says. This could be good news for men, who are five time less likely to seek help from a mental-health professional, according to the American Psychological Association.
Don’t know where to start? A quick search for “online therapy” or “online counseling” and the state you live in will bring up hundreds of reliable options, Nagel says. (She suggests Counsol.com and VirtualTherapyConnect.com). But before you bare your soul over Skype, make sure the psychologist has a doctorate (Ph.D. or Psy.D.) and a state license, and uses encrypted services so that all communications are confidential. And don’t forget to check your insurance coverage. There’s a billing code for long-distance treatment, but not all providers reimburse for it.
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