Why is online therapy becoming more and more popular?

These are the reasons why more and more people are turning to online psychotherapy.

Time goes by and, with it, our understanding of mental health and the way in which it should be treated by professionals is changing.

One of the aspects in which this is clearly seen has to do with the emergence and consolidation of online psychotherapy. If a little more than a decade ago the possibility of offering support to patients through the Internet seemed an eccentricity, today it is part of the daily work of many psychologists. In fact, it is a growing trend.

Why is this? In the course of this article we will see what are the reasons why online therapy is becoming more and more popularreceiving increasing attention from both patients and professionals.

Why has the popularity of online therapy grown?

Anyone who has been in contact with the world of applied psychology will have noticed that, at least in the case of Spain, there has been a notable increase in the number of psychologists, psychotherapy offices and health clinics that offer online psychotherapy services.

This is a phenomenon that has arisen in recent years.While the latter has played a role in accelerating the trend, online therapy has rapidly gained ground on its own merits.

This is due in part to something that has made its existence possible: the development of video-calling technologies.. Until recently, although it was technically possible to make this type of connections with other people through a computer, the signal was too weak or slow for the communication to be fluid. This made it possible to talk for a few minutes, but errors in the transmission meant that the images had little detail and often the images or the sound were halted.

Therefore, the differences between a face-to-face conversation and one carried out through one of these virtual platforms were evident, and those who participated in them had to spend some time and effort in "deciphering" what the other wanted to say because of the lack of nonverbal and sometimes verbal information.

But in recent years, the number of people with access to a good Internet connection has made it possible for millions of people to avoid such technical obstacles. it is possible to test the usefulness of online therapy without obtaining results distorted by poor data transmission due to technological limitations. due to technological limitations. And from this, the advantages of online therapy have become increasingly apparent.

What are the advantages of online psychotherapy?

From our perspective as psychology professionals, the beneficial aspects that explain the increase in popularity of the supply and demand of online therapy are mainly the following.

1. It gives the possibility to save time

With online therapy, patients save the time spent traveling to the center where the psychologist attends in person. This is not only more convenient and cheaper, but it also makes it easier to fit in the timetable of the psychologist's appointments, it also makes it easier to fit therapy sessions into the schedule..

2. It makes it easier to feel relaxed

Since there is no need to leave home to "go to the psychologist", patients can talk to the professional in an environment that feels familiar. In many cases this makes it easier for them to express openly and honestly their problems and their feelings about them.

3. It does not force you to be in the same place all the time.

Another reason why online therapy is in great demand is that it allows not to interrupt the treatment even in the case of having to travel, or in the case of not having left the treatmentIt does not require you to be at the same place where you are working because of delays, overtime, etc.

4. Provides discretion

Although everything that is said in therapy is always confidential, there are those who appreciate the possibility of having even more discretion thanks to online therapy thanks to online therapy, by not having to enter the center where the psychologist works.

5. It has the effectiveness of face-to-face therapy

Finally, it is worth noting something fundamental: the effects of online therapy are comparable to those of face-to-face therapy for most of the problems to be treated. With a few exceptions, such as treatments involving the use of equipment that cannot be created in digital form and those aimed at very young children, there are no significant differences in the magnitude or duration of the results obtained, there are no significant differences in the magnitude or duration of the results obtained..

Are you interested in online psychological help?

If you are one of the people who are considering taking advantage of online therapy, contact our team of psychotherapists. In El Prado Psychologists we have been combining the services of face-to-face care in our center in Madrid with online care for a long time, and we offer the possibility of having mental health experts wherever you are. With more than 20 psychologists of consolidated professional trajectory, in our center we perform interventions for a great variety of emotional and behavioral problems. To see our contact information, please access this page.

Bibliographical references:

• Change, D. (2008). The Effectiveness of Telemental Health Applications. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 53: pp. 769 - 778.
• González-Peña, P., Torres, R., Del Barrio, V., & Olmedo, M. (2017). Use of technology in psychological practice in Spain. Infocop.
• Gratzer, D., & Khalid-Khan, F. (2016). Internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy in the treatment of psychiatric illness. CMAJ, 188(4) pp. 263 - 272.
• Zack, Jason; Stricker, George (2004). Kraus, Ron, ed. Online counseling: a handbook for mental health professionals. Amsterdam: Academic.