5 Reasons To Consider Online Therapy

Before COVID-19, you might not have ever heard of telehealth or teletherapy. Online appointments (with your doctor, or a therapist) definitely were happening pre-COVID, but it was not widely adopted.  Data I saw reported that before COVID, 19% of health care providers were offering online services, compared to 90% now.  Through the pandemic, in a way to adapt to meet the needs of our clients, we began offering online therapy.  We’ve been doing a mixture of in person and online sessions now for over 8 months.  Now, you might wonder why on earth would I ever see a therapist online? Let me share with you 5 reasons why you might want to consider online therapy.

1- No travel time!  You can have a therapy session without having to worry about travel delays, or construction, or snow. Your therapy session gets to happen from wherever you happen to be.  And trust me, our clients have gotten to be quite creative with where they are for sessions.  Of course, we want you to be in a confidential space, somewhere you are comfortable. But I have done sessions while the client was in a private office at their work, in their car, and in their garage.  No travel time means you can fit therapy into your life without worrying about commute time.

2-  Therapy during lunchtime. We all know there are only so many evening hours, and those are the ones that often fill up first for appointments.  Rather than trying to find a therapist who has consistent evening openings, consider having therapy in the middle of your day!  During your lunch break, you could have a therapy session and then not have to worry about driving there after work.  Especially if you are working from home, you could schedule a session mid-morning, and just extend your work day slightly to make up for the session time.

3- You are sick. You can still have a therapy session even if you are feeling under the weather, or are quarantining from possible COVID exposure.  It seems like people are now hyperaware of having a cough or a fever, and instead of just cancelling your appointment to be on the safe side, an online session allows you the benefit of your session while still maintaining physical distance.

4 – Go anywhere in PA. Because our license is through the state, the therapists at The Counseling Collective are able to see any resident of Pennsylvania.  So who you choose to see can widen greatly because now you aren’t limited by geography.  Heard of an awesome Eating Disorder therapist outside of Pittsburgh?  Well, now might be the time you could actually see that therapist!

5- Privacy.  Let’s face it - here’s still some stigma around mental health.  Online therapy means that you don’t have to worry about who might see you on your way into or out of the building. Online therapy offers even more privacy if that’s what you are looking for. 

At The Counseling Collective, while we are still offering in person sessions, these are a few reasons why you might consider online therapy.  At our practice, you can have sessions in person, or only online, or a mixture of both based upon your needs at the time.  Most insurances are covering online sessions, and some are even waiving client responsibility (meaning you don’t pay your copay or deductible!) right now for online sessions.  Especially as we enter the winter months, and the potential for the spread of COVID-19 to worsen, I see online therapy as a really great resource for us to continue to help clients no matter where they are in PA! 

Please reach out to our office with any questions about online therapy, or if you want to get started with therapy!

The mental health therapists at our office offer counseling for a variety of issues including trauma using EMDR, depression, anxiety, grief, and couples counseling. We work with teens, adults, and couples. We also offer online counseling services which can be great for people with busy schedules or for people who live in parts of Pennsylvania with limited counseling options. You can check out our website to see the full list of counseling services that we offer. Or, Request An Appointment here.