PRACTICE UPDATE:  last updated September 2023

 

Therapy in the 2020s:  are video sessions as good as face-to-face sessions?

Three years and counting after the onset of the pandemic lockdowns my practice remains remote, via video, and my in-person, in-office practice remains closed. Most therapists’ teletherapy disclaimer form describes a video session as “not a complete, like-for-like substitution for an in-office session.” But let's look further…

Humans are extremely adaptable, and it seems to me that, as a field, we have all of us, clients and therapists, achieved a better understanding of the ways in which a video session compares with in-office: it’s different, yes, but, after three years of taking on, and successfully treating new clients, most of us feel the video session absolutely substitutes for the in-office session. My colleagues who have returned to their offices tell me the majority of their sessions are still conducted remotely via video, because so many clients value the options of eliminating travel to the therapy office and increased flexibility scheduling appointments.

Therapy is absolutely about you feeling completely seen, heard, and understood by your therapist. The therapist’s skill in picking up and interpreting transient emotions flickering across the client’s face is facilitated by the close-in nature of the video format, and this allows the therapist to be, at times, more present to the client even than in an in-person office session.

Please remember that video sessions need to take place when you are in a private place where no one can hear our conversation. 

I look forward to continuing to work with existing and new clients.