3. When is e - therapy not a good choice?
- If you have any psychotic symptoms (hallucinations, delusions, thought disorganization)
- If you are suicidal or homicidal
- If you need intense support, phone contact, hospitalisation.
4. Does this replace traditional, face to face, psychotherapy?
It's new...it's different...it's another tool...but it certainly cannot replace "old fashioned" psychotherapy for everything.
Some disadvantages of doing therapy online: first, the loss of non verbal communication - the body lingo, the expression, the sighs, the pauses. This is not absolute, though, as every person has their own distinctive writing style, and much of your personality can be expressed through writing. Second, there is a lot more to psychotherapy than discussion of issues on an intellectual level. A lot of it is about the relationship you develop with your psychotherapist. Ultimately, nothing can really equal the benefits and comfort of a long term relationship with a good face to face psychotherapist, especially for people who were severely damaged in their childhood and lead very chaotic lives.
The advantages are that you can take as much time as you like to compose your thoughts and put them down in writing, you can do this whenever you have free time, and can do it in the comfort of your own home. As long as you have a computer and a modem - you can access this from anywhere. Another advantage to online therapy is the intriguing combination of distance and closeness that e-mail provides. This usually has a disinhibiting effect - many people find it easier to talk online than to talk to someone who's in real space with them.
In short - online therapy is Flexible and Accessible
5. How long will this therapy take?
From a one-time e-mail to e-mail several times a week for an indefinite time, whatever works for you? I do ask that should you decide to discontinue therapy, send me a brief e-mail about this.
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