What types of conditions can online counseling help treat?

Online counseling has been demonstrated as an effective treatment modality for a wide range of conditions and diagnoses. The vast majority of symptoms that would be appropriate for treatment via outpatient therapy in a brick-and-mortar setting can also be effectively treated online.

Because a mental health clinician’s primary tools are their voice and language, therapy is an ideal fit for telehealth. Just as in a brick-and-mortar setting, the most important consideration is finding a therapist who has the clinical skill and experience to meet your needs, and with whom you feel comfortable. In other words, whether online or in-person, finding the right match is key.

There are some situations in which office-based therapy would be a better fit than online counseling. Examples include someone who is unable or unwilling to reliably access the necessary technology, lack of sufficient internet, someone with urgent safety needs, someone whose symptoms prevent them from engaging effectively in communication via video, young children, or those who do best with the various wrap-around services that can be offered by a community clinic or group practice setting. In each of these examples, there may be an opportunity for online therapy to be integrated into treatment, but not as the primary modality.

Some people simply enjoy or value the process and routine of going to an office setting, which online therapy would struggle to replicate.

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