Onlinetherapywithalicensedtherapist

Online therapy is proven to be as effective, if not more effective than face-to-face therapy. A study conducted by Talkspace & the Journal of Telemedicine and e-Health showed that text-based therapy through Talkspace was highly effective and comparable to traditional therapy. When compared with traditional therapy, Talkspace also generated greater satisfaction in terms of its delivery, accessibility, and affordability. Learn more from studies on how Talkspace improves mental health.

Unlike traditional therapy, online therapy sessions can take place in a few different ways: via text, audio, or video. Video therapy sessions are the most similar to in-person therapy in that you’ll meet face-to-face with your therapist. Text & audio methods are asynchronous; you’ll be able to send text messages, audio and video clips to your therapist any time and your therapist will respond daily, 5 days/week. There’s no limit to how many messages you send, and you can review old messages to track your progress and reflect on your insights and discoveries.

You can expect to spend some time in your initial online therapy session discussing your goals for therapy, along with any concerns or issues you’re hoping to address. The therapist will guide the discussion by asking questions that help them gain a better understanding of your situation. The therapist may tell you about their professional background and approaches to mental health care. This is a great time to ask the therapist questions to help determine if they’re the right fit for you. The initial therapy session is a chance for the therapist and the client to get to know one another and build a rapport.

In ongoing sessions, the structure will vary depending on your goals, preferences, and progress. Your online therapist will provide helpful guidance and exercises to help you work toward your goals. Often, they’ll ask deeper questions to help you see a problem in a new light. Throughout your treatment, they’ll check in to make sure there’s room for anything new that you’d like to work on… read more

As you can imagine, because counseling can be so impactful and therapists can do so much to improve the specific challenges clients struggle with, the service is not without costs. Therapists are highly trained professionals — licensed in the state they practice in, each with a master’s degree and an additional 3,000 hours of supervised work. They deserved to be justly compensated! Talkspace also requires six-weeks of training and onboarding for the platform.

The relatively high costs of therapy and healthcare more generally do make it prohibitively expensive for many. That’s why, at Talkspace, we aim to make counseling more accessible by keeping costs low — we believe in therapy for all. Often costs vary by region, but in-person therapy costs on average $75-150 per hour (in places like New York it is generally between $200-300 per hour) and the majority of therapists do not take health insurance.

Online therapy, however, is a most cost effective and affordable option for those who need access to care, but don’t have the means to access brick-and-mortar counseling.

How much does online therapy cost?

Online therapy has been proven to have the same efficacy as in-office therapy and is typically much more affordable (often less than half the cost of traditional therapy). This is mostly due to the fact that online counseling requires less overhead than therapists who work in an office.

You can use an online therapy network, like Talkspace, to find a therapist or check if a therapist you know will provide online service.

Cost-saving options

Therapy can be lifesaving for those who struggle with mental health challenges — everyone should have access to it. But for those whom counseling proves too cost prohibitive, there are a few options that can help defray the expense.

Below are some affordable examples of ways to find the mental healthcare you need:

• Ask the Therapist for a Discount or Seek Therapists With Sliding Scales
  Most therapists are not in it for the money. Though therapists need to be able to make a living, if you tell them you can only afford a discounted rate, they may oblige. There are also therapists who use sliding scales for all payments. Before sessions begin, check for this information on their website, therapy network, or profile.
• Schools or universities
  If you’re a student and want free or discounted therapy, ask your student health center for more information. Student health centers can often provide low-cost or free mental health services on a short-term basis (a semester or quarter) — a good temporary solution until you find a long-term therapist you can afford.
• Therapy practices
  Therapy practices — sometimes called agencies or firms — are often more affordable because more than one person is chipping in for the cost of rent and other overhead. These practices often have interns — those who are working on their supervised clinical hours — who charge less. If you prefer in-office counseling, practices are often a more affordable option.
• Not using insurance
  Many assume that using insurance for therapy will lower the overall cost. However, circumventing insurance providers is sometimes the cheaper option. Many therapists choose not to accept insurance coverage because payments are often lower and there is a great deal of paperwork for reimbursements.
• Federally-funded health centers
  Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) usually have mental health resources and the law requires they offer a sliding payment scale. You can search for one in your area.

While therapy can be expensive, it’s important to remember that your mental health touches every aspect of your life — your relationships, career, and happiness. Gambling with your mental health is not something that will pay off long-term. It’s important to prioritize your well-being!

All forms of psychotherapy exist to improve clients’ mental health, but there are styles of therapy specific to issues clients face, as well as different therapeutic approaches, represented by different schools of thought around treating mental health and the nature of the mind. Some schools are more closely related to the older styles of counseling developed by early psychoanalysts like Sigmund Freud, while others are more contemporary and reflect newer research by theorists.

A few of the most popular popular types of therapy include:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Challenges negative client-thought patterns about themselves and the world to alter unwanted behaviors or treat disorders such as depression. CBT provides relatively short-term treatment for a range of conditions, phobias, disorders and is backed by a great deal of research on its effectiveness.

Client-Centered Therapy

Focuses on the client, who helps determine the course of the session; the therapist offers a high-degree of empathy, helps build self-esteem and problem-solving abilities, but does not overtly guide the session.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

Stresses acceptance and change while teaching behavioral skills (mindfulness, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation) that help clients enhance motivation. DBT is often used to treat more severe mental health issues including PTSD, borderline personality disorder, self-harming, and eating disorders.

Existential Therapy

Derived from existential philosophy, this modality emphasizes self-actualization in the face of the realities of the human experience, including our isolation from one another and mortality. Existential therapy helps clients face these difficult and overwhelming truths.

Gestalt Therapy

Stresses the client-therapist relationship and their therapeutic alliance to highlight personal responsibility and a focus on the present. Often gestalt therapy invokes role playing to resolve conflicts from the client’s past.

Psychodynamic Therapy

Explores a client’s unconscious feelings/thoughts and how the present is impacted by the past. Psychodynamic therapy is the oldest form of psychotherapy and is, in fact, an outgrowth of psychoanalytic therapy developed by Freud where clients are encouraged to speak extemporaneously on whatever comes to mind, whether it be fears, dreams, or desires.

A therapist, or psychotherapist, is a licensed mental health professional who helps clients improve the lives of their clients, helping them develop better cognitive and emotional skills, reduce the symptoms of mental illness and cope with various day-to-day challenges. Therapists primarily help clients, whether via in-person or online therapy, improve their mental health. Some therapists work in a research capacity or in an academic setting.

Therapists work in a range of modes and capacities. They help their clients cope with whatever they’re struggling with and assist in modifying behaviors that may be unhealthy, maladaptive, or harmful. Therapists also teach better coping skills.

Whatever type of counseling you engage in you can be sure that your therapist will:

• Listen with empathy and understanding
• Analyze past and present events to help clients better understand behaviors
• Comfort clients when they undergo misfortune
• Provide a third-party unbiased opinion
• Teach emotional, cognitive, and communication skills
• Guide clients through stressors and anxieties
• Provide non-directive advice
• Help provide assessment and diagnosis of mental health conditions 

Therapists themselves do not prescribe medication, but they refer clients to psychiatrists, mental health facilities, or other medical professionals as needed.

The length of the therapeutic process is dependent upon your individual needs, goals, and challenges. The number of recommended sessions varies by condition and treatment type, which is something you can discuss in an initial consultation with a therapist. Many clients with depression and anxiety report feeling better after three months.

Those who are treated via cognitive behavioral therapy report feeling better around 10-20 sessions, Talkspace therapist Cynthia Catchings explains. She reports that she’s had “many successful stories with clients who had situational issues that only needed brief therapy services” in order to start feeling better. She adds, “it is important to mention that therapy is not only a way to solve a problem, but also a way of living. In the same way that we go to the gym and exercise or tone our body, therapy is like exercise for our mind, heart, and soul.”

Whatever your therapeutic process may look like, remember to trust your gut and express any concerns to your therapist. Honesty and transparency will ensure you’re on the right path to feeling better as soon as possible.

While everyone’s therapeutic process is different, there are some common signs you’re making progress in therapy.

If you sought counseling for a mental health condition, symptom improvement is a main indicator that therapy is working for you. Other indicators of improvement include progress toward long-term goals — you’ve moved past venting and have started working toward change — or recognizing the development of new skills, coping mechanisms, or better habits and ways of thinking.

And remember, if you’re concerned about the progress you’re making in counseling, express these worries to your therapist.

Online counseling is proven to be as effective, if not more effective than face-to-face counseling, with important benefits that bring the experience into the modern era. For some, traditional counseling is their choice because they haven’t yet experienced the freedom that online counseling offers.

If you’re on the fence about whether online counseling is right for you, consider these positive benefits… read more