There are definite pros and cons to online versus traditional in-person therapy. Some people (and at particular times) might need one or the other. I’ve actually benefited from both.
When I started seeing Dr. Micheal Kane in Seattle, I was in a particularly bad place. I did not want to get out of bed, much less go out of the house. Since I was seeing him in-person, I had to clean up and get out. He had an important rule. I had to shave before our appointments. In that case, going to his office, a safe space, was what I needed. (The only exception was when I had a knee injury and was mostly in the house for three months. We did phone sessions.)
Fast forward about 13 years. In July 2019, I started seeing my current therapist through BetterHelp, an online platform. One of the questions on the intake form is, “Why did you choose online counseling instead of a more traditional practice?” At the time, I was working full-time for United Way, at their headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.
I will discuss my experience with online therapy on a new show that I launched with Dawn Helmrich, “Shining Light on Shadows: A Candid Conversation About Mental Health.” Dr. Grace Hipona, a therapist with experience providing both in-person and online counseling will be our guest. You can watch live show Thursday, August 1st at 7pm ET / 6pm CT or the recording on this website or watch on Facebook, Twitter*, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram* and my website.
*We won't know the exact urls for Twitter or Instagram until we go live. For now, these links go to my
Here was my answer, “Between my work schedule, only having one car, getting to a face to face appointment seemed logistically challenging. I did try finding an offline therapist through insurance, but was not successful. I thought this would be more convenient. And I knew I needed to reach out for help.”
I saw my current therapist for several months before the pandemic hit in March of 2020.Most of my appointments were on Fridays when I worked from home, mornings before work (e.g. 7:30am) and even sometimes on Saturdays.
After we all went into lockdown because of Covid-19, scheduling those appointments became much easier. Then, in August of 2020, I left my job at United Way to work with Digimentors. I was working as a consultant full-time from home and in some ways had much more flexibility with my schedule.
Most of my meetings are on Zoom. Luckily, I have an office at home. I have privacy, good Internet and headphones. In some ways, it’s just another online meeting. I’m in the same space where I produce shows and where I do other work. It’s integrated into the rest of my life.
Financially, it’s challenging because it’s not covered by insurance. But, given that I can reschedule fairly easily and I can continue therapy even if I’m traveling, it’s pretty convenient. There’s also a chat feature where I can communicate with my therapist in between sessions.
The idea of driving to an appointment, particularly since we only have one car, seems like a logistical nightmare.
Thankfully, I was doing online therapy before the pandemic hit, so there wasn’t much of a learning curve. I can only imagine how challenging it is for people who don’t like doing meetings online, much less therapy.
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