Can I Stay With My Online Therapist After Lockdown, Or Is Everything Going Back To In-Person Therapy?
March 2020 changed the landscape of the world, our country, and our lives. We had to quickly shift to a new way of living and doing things. The most mundane tasks became, for many, fraught with anxiety and fear. Overnight, trips to the grocery store and medical appointments were agonizing decisions about safety vs necessity...and logistical concerns about how to proceed should you decide to do so.
Life During A Pandemic
There were considerations about whether your destination was open, restrictions on when you could enter, mask requirements, and directional arrows on the floor instructing you where to go and how far to stand from the person in front of you. Fortunately, society rose to the challenge, including licensing boards and insurance companies who relaxed restrictions that made it easier for people to get the healthcare services they needed and in ways that allowed us to follow quarantine guidelines. Therapists provided opportunities for online therapy for mutual safety, providing HIPAA compliant therapy from home. Clients were relieved to be able to continue sessions and clinicians were grateful for the ability to continue to provide much needed care---now more than ever.
As the year progressed, some offices and businesses opened back up and some therapists resumed in-person sessions. Many more offered the option for both face-to-face in-person sessions and for online therapy sessions. Clients and therapists are representative of the greater population, with varying degrees of comfort resuming in-person sessions. And while online therapy does provide guaranteed COVID-free therapy sessions, some clients have come to appreciate online therapy for reasons other than COVID fears.
Benefits of Online Therapy
Online therapy has opened up an avenue for receiving services that remove barriers some clients cite for discontinuing, or never beginning, therapy...time. Online therapy removes the commute, it allows for lunch-break therapy or squeezing in a session between tight work demands. It also allows for parents to have sessions without finding babysitters for kiddos attending online classes. Some clients report simply feeling more comfortable in their homes, increasing their willingness to be vulnerable.
Will Online Therapy Last After The Pandemic?
Okay, so now we understand how online therapy has met a need during a highly stressful time for so many people. But this virus likely isn’t going to last forever, at least not in the way it exists today. And life will go back to some semblance of normalcy.
So what happens then? What happens to online therapy sessions? What if you’re still grooving on all those previously mentioned benefits of online therapy, like, therapy in your comfy clothes with a warm cup of coffee and your cat on your lap? What then?
Chances are, many therapists will continue to offer online therapy services. I have heard from several colleagues that they intend to continue working remotely. Some therapists closed their offices in the Spring and made the switch to full time online therapy. Some are enjoying online therapy both for the service they can provide for their clients and for their own convenience. That is not to say that you can necessarily expect your therapist to continue seeing you online indefinitely. For many (clients and clinicians), in-person face-to-face therapy allows for processes that are hard to replicate online. It isn’t an ideal or preferable means of connecting with and delivering services for many therapists so it’s a good conversation to have with your therapist if you have concerns or questions about where and how services will be provided in the future. As with all topics, you should feel free to address this with your therapist.
We’re in this together!
