Online therapy, teletherapy, telehealth, telepsychology, and virtual counseling are a few names used to describe online therapy. The American Psychological Association reports that studies show clients and counselors find it a good experience. They also claim the demand for teletherapy is increasing and sought after by people who may not normally be able to receive treatment.
Online therapy is a way to provide services when a person cannot meet in person. It involves using technology to communicate between therapist and client. Teletherapy refers to using the telephone, while online therapy refers to using a computer or smartphone to engage in a virtual conversation between two people. The use of audio and video often makes the meetings feel more personal.
Online therapy is a method effective in treating mental health disorders.
What is Online Anxiety Therapy?
Online anxiety therapy consists of a licensed mental health therapist providing counseling services via the internet to a client diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.
Online anxiety therapy can include many therapeutic activities typically used during in-person counseling sessions. Screenings, testing and assessments, treatment planning, and behavioral therapies in individual and group therapies are available with online anxiety therapy. Helping you understand anxiety and address why it affects you is a primary goal. Another major goal is to eliminate anxiety-related symptoms that may be interfering with your daily functioning.
Understanding Anxiety
Anxiety is formed based on your thoughts, which can sometimes be irrational. You may have thoughts that an upcoming event is going to cause distress. You may begin to think this so often that you develop a fear of going to the event. The longer your fear exists, the more physical and mental health anxiety symptoms you will experience.
Over time, the continued anxious thoughts can lead to an anxiety disorder that will most likely interfere with your personal, professional, and social obligations.
When you anticipate fear or stress, your body goes into fight or flight mode. It must quickly decide if you want to stay and fight the distress or run away from it. Over time, your anxiety may prevent you from going to certain places, including work, school, or social functions.
Types of Anxiety Disorders
The Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) reports anxiety disorders affect over 40 million men and women in the United States. They also note that people diagnosed with anxiety disorders are more likely to seek treatment than those without an anxiety disorder. The ADAA also reports the following on the different types of anxiety disorders:
Generalized Anxiety Disorder affects 6.8 million Americans
Panic Disorder affects over 6 million people
Social Anxiety Disorder affects 15 million U.S. adults
Phobias affect more women than men, with a total of over 19 million people
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder affects 1% of the American population
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder affects 3.5% of Americans, primarily women
For those diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, starting therapy online can be a huge benefit. In fact, without online therapy, many anxiety sufferers may not ever seek in-person therapy. Therefore, online anxiety therapy is reaching more people who need help, which is one of many benefits.
Benefits of Online Anxiety Therapy
You and your mental health therapists will experience many benefits of online anxiety therapy. For example, your therapist can be flexible regarding days and times they can meet online, which may be outside regular business hours. Online anxiety therapy saves time for therapists when it comes to providing services such as screenings, consultations, psychoeducation, and supervision.
Other benefits include:
You are more comfortable. You get to attend therapy from your couch, wearing your pajamas if you wish
You save money due to expenses being less than if you had to travel to your session
You pay less due to insurance companies expanding coverages to include online anxiety therapy
You get access to licensed professionals who can counsel you from a distance
Communication can vary from emails, group conference calls, texts, and visual calls.
Eliminates some barriers like transportation, employment, childcare, or disabilities.
With everything, there are pros and cons. One of the cons of online anxiety therapy is that sometimes, it is necessary to meet with counselors and peers in person. Some people aren’t as technologically savvy as others, and some hate talking on the phone. Some people don’t trust confidentiality measures, or their insurance doesn’t pay the total costs.
It’s important to note that online anxiety therapy can include online and in-person services.
Hybrid Online Anxiety Therapy
Your therapist will likely be more than willing to create a treatment plan involving both online and in-person individual and group therapy. They understand the benefits of personal interactions and how they can boost serotonin and other mood-boosting neurotransmitters in the brain. Also, they recognize that isolating too much is not healthy mentally or physically and can lead to loneliness, depression, and more anxiety.
Therapies for Online Anxiety
Another benefit of online anxiety therapy is that the techniques that work in person also work online. The goal is to adopt healthy thought processes that lead to good decision-making and healthy behaviors.
Cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) is a universal, evidence-based treatment that applies to any treatment scenario. It has sub-therapies that help individualize it and advance treatments. For example, dialectical-behavioral therapy is a type of CBT that includes mindfulness components. Being mindful teaches you to be present and aware of what is happening around you. You learn to recognize the needs of your mind, body and spirit and address them right away rather than wait until they become part of the problem.
A wide range of treatment options is available with online anxiety therapy, including assessments, behavioral therapies, case management, medication-assisted treatment, and medication management.
Getting Started with Online Anxiety Therapy
Contact a licensed therapist who specializes in anxiety disorders to learn more about online anxiety therapy or enroll in a program. They can help you overcome your anxiety and get back to living the life you deserve. You can start today.