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.