eTherapy Getting Momentum
Online therapy is getting popular as more people feel that getting counseling from the comfort of their own bedroom is far more relaxing and effective. Clients review suggest that they feel more comfortable and at their own pace. ProvenTherapy.com has fairly good number of reviews that suggest how online therapy is getting momentum as an effective alternative to face to face counseling.
According to Nils-Günter Schultze, there are many benefits to online treatment in which the patient does not see the therapist. The following list of mental processes are common during online treatment, and serve as factors that enable online therapy to be a success.
1. Psychological anonymity – Real anonymity is difficult to achieve nowadays, yet online patients are afforded this benefit, having the ability to receive treatment in the comfort of their own homes. Many of them even choose e-therapy for this very reason. The anonymity that e-therapy affords enables them to talk about their most intimate personal matters with a total stranger, much easier than if they had to do so in traditional face-to-face therapy. This anonymity also allows them to decide when they would like to end sessions, a benefit not found in traditional therapy.
2. Protection of self assurance – Since most online sessions do not involve seeing the other person, patients do not have to experience the common humiliation that accompanies the discussion of sensitive topics. Empowered to speak freely, the anonymity minimizes the patients’ helplessness during the process.
3. Projection - Online counseling lacks the formality, objectively experienced distance, and insecurity triggered often during the first few sessions in traditional face-to-face therapy. Therefore, often, the patient’s image of the therapist takes on traits of projection where a patient’s inner image of the counselor is most likely to match some imagined character of an ideal counsel.
4. Willingness to change – The unique setting of online treatment encourages patients to feel increased inner confidence and openness. These feelings of empowerment facilitate greater acceptance of the counselor’s intervention, and thus makes the treatment even more effective. Over time, and in the context of one-time counseling, it means that counselors have the opportunity to make more of an impact.
5. Accessibility – Due to the fact that all treatment materials are permanently documented, patients and counselors both have the ability to re-read session transcripts. This kind of access is a benefit not found in traditional therapy, and it allows patients the ability to literally track their progress, over time.
Based on: Schultze, N.G. (2006). Success Factors in Internet-Based Psychological Counseling. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 9 (5), 623-626.
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