The year 2020 had a profound impact on the way that we interact with technology. Having been unable to meet and talk in person has pushed many professionals to adopt a virtual environment, which thankfully allowed us to keep the world moving and getting things done. Now that restrictions are easing off and folks are returning to their physical workplaces, many wonder if the virtual meeting trend is coming to an end. The answer is obviously not.
Long before the pandemic started, I had already embraced a good number of technologies that allowed me to provide therapy sessions to customers who lived in other localities than I did. I always saw Zoom, Facetime, Skype and other similar programs as fantastic tools that allowed me to provide my clients with the freedom of being able to access help in a very convenient fashion. Having adopted these technologies earlier on gave me the ability to continue doing what I had been doing without much disruption once the world went on lockdown mode.
So, are there advantages from choosing one method over the other? It really depends on the client, as each person is completely different. After having conducted hundreds of therapy sessions through phone, tablet or computer, I feel that many clients really enjoy the possibility of accessing therapy from the comfort of their own home. There have been many instances where clients have also joined a session from a park or a parking lot, which has allowed them a certain freedom that was simply impossible to get when therapy required people to travel to a specific location, such as the office of the therapist. Given that the ultimate goal is to always make therapy more accessible and convenient, technology has been a life savior for many clients and their mental health providers.
Obviously, I would never underestimate the power of sitting face to face with a client. There are clients who respond better to having a standard therapy session and prefer that human-to-human contact, and I'm always happy to accommodate. Things are changing nonetheless, and those people who believed could only do therapy in-person are now asking me to do it over the phone, as they have realized that we are able to achieve the same (or better) results when we conduct their therapy session virtually. Even those folks who had been skeptical about doing an EMDR session virtually, have now realized that they are able to have a fantastic session from their home.
What do you think, which type of therapy do you consider more fitting to your needs? leave your comments below.