Online therapy has broken down barriers: interview with Sandra Bernal

Sandra Bernal, a specialist in online psychotherapy, talks to us about this paradigm shift.

The concept of what it means to attend psychotherapy is often anchored in stereotypes, at least among most people who have never attended a psychologist as a patient. The image of a person lying on a couch while the professional takes notes is common, although it is also biased. In fact, nowadays, in order to attend therapy it is not even necessary to be in person at the psychologist's office.

Online therapy is already a perfectly implemented reality in countries such as Spain. This is something that professionals such as Sandra Bernal Mora, who has oriented her work mainly to this format of psychological assistance, which has many advantages.which has many advantages, although she also performs face-to-face therapy in Valencia.

"Online therapy has broken barriers": interview with psychologist Sandra Bernal.

We talked to psychologist Sandra Bernal to explain her professional experience with online therapy.

What made you start offering an online psychotherapy service?

I realized that people have a lot of problems when looking for a psychologist: how do you find the right person and how can you access them wherever you are?

In my case, there were people who knew me and wanted to work on their problems with me. However, distance was the main barrier that limited us. That was what really pushed me to create the online therapy services I have today.

I believe that the great advantage par excellence of online psychotherapy is the enormous accessibility it provides. Not only because of its convenience, but also because it allows you to maintain continuity with your psychologist despite changes, moves and other circumstances. Whether you are traveling or living in another country, the people I work with know that they can count on me no matter what.

Surely many people can't imagine how a psychotherapy session takes place over the Internet. How is the process from the moment you contact the psychologist until the first session begins?

It is a comfortable and simple process, since you can do everything at the click of a button. In my case, through the website, in the "request appointment" menu, you can select the preferred day and time to have the session and make the payment directly.

Once the session is booked, the person will receive a confirmation email (sometimes it may take a little while, as I will send it myself and if I am attending someone else at that moment it may take a little longer).

As there are different services (videoconference, telephone and chat), depending on the method chosen, the access to the session will be different. In the case of videoconferencing and chat, the person will receive a link in the e-mail left when making the reservation. By clicking on this link, the person enters directly into a session with me.

Are there measures to ensure the confidentiality of what is discussed in therapy over the Internet?

Yes, there are measures in place. As for video calls and chat, they are end-to-end encrypted, i.e. the message becomes an unbreakable code, so confidentiality is fully protected.

On the other hand, telephone calls are costly to trace and require a lot of human and technological resources, in addition to the requirement to access communication systems.

Does the fact of being able to attend psychotherapy without leaving home make patients open up more and show their real problems and vulnerabilities more easily?

There are people who have no problem opening up completely from the first moment, but the truth is that there are many other people who find certain things more difficult. Online therapy breaks down this barrier. In my experience, it can be a facilitator for the person to get "naked" and show him/herself to be totally authentic much earlier than in face-to-face therapy.

What are the advantages of online psychotherapy that you notice clients value the most?

Flexibility, comfort and not having to waste time traveling are just some of the most valued strengths. However, apart from these, the advantages of online therapy are many: from not having to limit yourself to psychologists who are close to you, to saving time, anonymity through the network and easy access from a telephone.

As new technologies develop, do you think that in a few years there will be even more options and functionalities in the world of online therapy?

There probably will. And that's a very good thing. We have already made great strides in terms of being able to offer different services over the Internet. However, I think there are still many people who are unaware of all that we can achieve in terms of online therapy, psychology and personal growth with a medium as powerful as this.

Do you think that online therapy has popularized the possibility of attending psychotherapy?

I think that online therapy has broken down barriers by offering psychological assistance to people who did not dare to take the step of going to a psychologist, or could not do so because of their geographical circumstances.

I think it has changed part of the concept of going to a psychologist. Thanks to the ease of access to sessions, priority is given to what is really important in therapy: the person him/herself, his/her story and what he/she wants to achieve.

On the other hand, I think that a very important aspect is that people end up feeling accompanied from a distance.