Why choose a telehealth therapist?

When choosing a therapist there are many considerations that can come to mind. Factors such as the therapist’s qualifications, demographic profile, and expertise can all be important factors when looking for a therapist. In addition to these, one of the most important aspects to consider is how you will actually meet with your therapist. Are they local, or will you have to commute to meet with them? How accessible is their office? How much time will it take me to get there? The beauty of considering meeting with your therapist via telehealth is that these factors are no longer potential barriers to finding the right therapist for you, as by its very nature telehealth therapy is more accessible, flexible, and just as effective as traditional face-to-face therapy (if not more!)

Finding the right therapist

We know from the research that the most predictive factor for positive client outcomes is a perceived “goodness of fit” with their therapist. But what if the therapist who might be the best fit for you isn’t located just around the corner? If you live in a rural area or an area with a lack of available therapists you might have very few options for meeting with someone local, and likely even fewer potential therapists who might be great matches for you. Unfortunately, we know that in Ireland many services are focused around the major cities, which can cause people living in the country to feel overlooked. With telehealth therapy, your geographic location is much less of a concern, and the number of potential therapists you can meet with dramatically increases.

Accessibility issues

It is important to weigh how accessible your therapist is into your choice. For in-person appointments, you need to plan for if you will you need to drive or take public transport to get to their office, how long that commute may take, if you have accessibility needs such as using a mobility device if the premises are accessible, if you will need childcare while you are out of the home, and likely even more factors to plan for and consider. Not to mention the stress of possibly being stuck in traffic right before your appointment! With telehealth appointments these barriers are virtually all removed. While there are other important factors to consider for telehealth sessions (such as optimizing your space for privacy during your appointment), many of these are easily overcome with very few additional resources needed.

Comfort and convenience

Along with being generally more accessible, many clients find telehealth appointments more comfortable and convenient to attend. Since clients won’t need to factor in commute times when scheduling a telehealth appointment they have more available time to potentially book an appointment. When reducing the barrier to engaging with a healthy behaviour we are all much more likely to actually choose to engage with that behaviour rather than avoid or put it off. Nothing is makes attending therapy less of a barrier than being able to attend from your own home, in a space that is comfortable for you (and if you join the session wearing pajama pants, we will never know!)

Sometimes the concern you are wanting support with through therapy can be a barrier to attending in itself. Symptoms of depression, anxiety, and other mental health concerns can keep us feeling stuck due to low energy, motivation, or fear. Someone experiencing these symptoms might view getting dressed and going out as too high of a mountain to climb to attend their therapy appointment, so they might not choose to book an appointment at all. Again, this highlights why telehealth can be such an empowering model for people experiencing mental health concerns to begin to engage with therapy and start to find some relief.

Research Support for telehealth therapy

There have been several peer-reviewed articles posted in psychological journals which have highlighted the benefits of telehealth therapy. Most of these articles conclude that telehealth therapy is effective for use with a wide range of clients and concerns. Teletherapy continues to be a highly researched area at the moment and new evidence for its use continues to be published at a rapid pace. This means you can feel confident that booking a telehealth appointment is not a “lesser option” than a traditional in-person appointment.

If you would like further reading on the research related to telehealth therapy, please do not hesitate to reach out and we would be happy to supply citations and articles for your reference. We hope this was a helpful and informative guide to why we choose to emphasize offering telehealth appointments. If after reading you have any questions, concerns, or want to connect further, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Finally, to book a telehealth appointment of your own, please use the button below. Thanks for reading!