How do you decide whether to book an online or an in-person appointment?
Online therapy
The obvious advantage of online therapy is the convenience of not having to travel to our centre, which saves time and allows you the flexibility to see your therapist on your laptop or computer from the comfort of your home or other suitable venue of your choice.
You may be wondering, however, does online therapy work? Is it as effective as seeing your therapist in person? We have asked ourselves this same question. During the coronavirus pandemic all our work went online, and this created the conditions for a very interesting natural experiment.
At Tavistock Relationships, we research and evaluate all that we do. So, we did the same with the move to online working. Our results told us that online therapy was just as effective – in terms of improvements to couples’ relationships and to their wellbeing and mental health. People also told us that they were just as satisfied with their experience of our service online as people who had come in person.
In-person therapy
So why choose to come ‘in person’? Coming to therapy in person is different from seeing your therapist on a screen. Working ‘in person’ you have the advantage of the physical presence of the therapist, and the wider cues and channels of communication that can happen when you are physically present with someone.
Some people have also told us that they value the journey to and from therapy, as it gives them time to reflect on themselves and the therapeutic work. It can also be helpful to be seeing the therapist outside of your home, in a neutral setting – and people can sometimes feel helped by getting to know our centre and have a better sense of the organisation that is helping them.
Making your choice
Whether you decide to come ‘in person’ or to see your therapist online is very much a question of personal preference and judgement. There are advantages and disadvantages of each – and some people may have strong preferences for one or another.
We would encourage you to think carefully about this before you book your first appointment, and you can also explore this at your first consultation – where you might think about it with the therapist. Once you have decided which type of modality to choose, we would say that, at this point, you should be expecting to commit yourself to continuing with this on an ongoing basis; chopping and changing between online and in-person working would be disruptive to your therapy and is not something we would advise.
© 2023 Tavistock Relationships. All Rights Reserved.
10 New Street, London, UK, EC2M 4TP - Tel: 020 7380 1975
Registered Charity Number: 211058. Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology.
Company number: 241618.
© 2023 Tavistock Relationships. All Rights Reserved.
10 New Street, London EC2M 4TP
Tel: 020 7380 1975
Registered Charity Number: 211058. Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology. Company number: 241618.