Therapists clinging to remote work post Covid

[GammaRay]

Some people - MANY people - find meeting virtually to fit their schedules extremely well, and actually prefer it to face-to-face meeting.

It may not work for YOU, but you are not the only person who wants therapy.

Nor are you. So in the interest of serving as many people as possible, they should offer some days in person and some days remote.

 

[Movingforward10]

Nor are you. So in the interest of serving as many people as possible, they should offer some days in person and some days remote.

I'm not sure their interest is serving as many people as possible.

I don't know what the options are that are available to you but where I am there are options if therapists doing in person and therapists doing online.
Do you have a lack of options and autonomy in finding a therapist who does therapy the way that works for you?

 

[GammaRay]

Do you have a lack of options and autonomy in finding a therapist who does therapy the way that works for you?

If I want a therapist who I actually click with, who uses modalities that work for me, who is not too far away, who feels like the right therapist for me? Yes, I have limited options for finding all of that in one therapist, don't we all?

 

[GammaRay]

i really dislike zooming with my therapist even temporarily when i am out of town. it messes with me. i don’t know if i can even explain how. i just feel like things are off.

Maybe what feels "off" is that you divulged without trust. I think it's very hard to feel a sense of trust with a digitized rendering of someone who isn't even present.

 

[Midnightmoon]

If I want a therapist who I actually click with, who uses modalities that work for me, who is not too far away, who feels like the right therapist for me? Yes, I have limited options for finding all of that in one therapist, don't we all?

I really understand this. I approached, god, it must of been 15 plus people before I found my new T. Most people won't work with me online due to the way I dissociate, throw in the need for wheelchair access and finding a F2F trauma specialist T was like a needle in a haystack. I was happy to try online, I'm not sure if that's something you'd consider having a go at, but most wouldn't even let me try the minute I started to tell them my history...

Eventually I was referred to a specialist, who was 250 miles away from me, and was happy to give it a go online and just see. Sure it's a bit of a learning curve compared to F2F but her clinical knowledge and skill is what I need. I can access that via screen and that is what is most valuable too me, rather than a local counsellor who I could could sit on their sofa but had nil trauma knowledge than a three day course...

Plenty of people really value online, equally, plenty of people really value F2F but it's hard when it's circumstances like yours that feels like you have no choice in the matter

 

[somerandomguy]

So in the interest of serving as many people as possible, they should offer some days in person and some days remote.

Oh they should? All of them?

Sounds like you think that therapists should be machines - grab as many broken people as possible, fix them up, churn them out, and then grab some more.

I'm not surprised you're having trouble finding suitable therapists. I suspect the problem will persist when you DO find someone who will see you in person.

 

[GammaRay]

@somerandomguy, several people in the thread were pointing to expanded service (to underserved areas, etc.) as a key reason therapists are sticking with remote. I thought I'd address the other side of that equation.

 

[Movingforward10]

If I want a therapist who I actually click with, who uses modalities that work for me, who is not too far away, who feels like the right therapist for me? Yes, I have limited options for finding all of that in one therapist, don't we all?

I feel fortunate that where I am: a big city, I don't have those limited options you're experiencing and have found what I needed in my T.

I suppose for some people online therapy is a hard no. Others an ok compromise. Others neither here or there. And for others a preference.

I see how the therapist does their therapy (online or in person) is their choice as much as it is what modality they use.

 

[GammaRay]

I feel fortunate that where I am: a big city, I don't have those limited options you're experiencing and have found what I needed in my T.

Actually, I am also located inside a large city. I suppose my local therapists are making money from people in underserved areas outside the city who don't have much of a choice but to accept remote therapy.

 

[Ecdysis]

Where I live, therapy is still all offline... It didn't go online here during the pandemic either - I dunno if our privacy laws are too strict? But yeah, it's not a thing here. I think I'd be weirded out by it. But that may be because it's not a thing here, which makes it seem exotic and weird. I think I would struggle with it... I need something about the ritual of going to a "sacred space" and doing therapy...

 

[Movingforward10]

Actually, I am also located inside a large city. I suppose my local therapists are making money from people in underserved areas outside the city who don't have much of a choice but to accept remote therapy.

I don't think it's an underhand thing. A therapist can work wherever they please. And they are making money as it's their job. Doesn't mean it's wrong or at the detriment or exploitation of their clients.

A therapist or therapists can't fix the problems of areas where there is less choice. That is more about public services and how your government funds mental health services.

 

[No More]

@somerandomguy, @Movingforward10, @No More, Are you going into detail about the most disgusting, shameful, humiliating, degrading things that ever happened to you on a Zoom call?

I can’t talk for the others, but I did yes. Where it was necessary information for my therapist to have I was open about some absolutely revolting things that were extremely TMI in any other circumstance.

This feels to me like you’ve made up your mind that it won’t work. And generally, where you go in defensive and closed, things probably won’t work. Have you tried online therapy with an open mind?

I get it might feel a bit odd, but they are there to help you, and if there’s any work arounds or any changes they can make to help make this work for you then most therapists are reasonably open about trying that.