Therapists clinging to remote work post Covid

[Friday]

Sorry, what is 1:12? And can you explain what kind of access he has, and who else has it?

One out of a dozen people who have admin access. I.E. full on god mode. The same way select google minions have god mode over certain aspects of google products. But? ANYTHING/EVERYTHING people access over mobile devices. In? Limited countries. (US, AUS, PT), if ANYONE anywhere uses any app? Or their phone to log in over a webpage (safari, Firefox, whatever)? Instant in. IF ITS MOBILE? He not only has everything YOU have input, but everything everyone else has, ever. Every keystroke/ password. Every app . Every note/photo/etc.

It would be worse... divorcing the NSA or MI6 ... who have god nosebleed to more than JUST mobile. But it's still pretty durn living like it's 1899.

 

[whiteraven]

@GammaRay

I do. I deal with the very same stuff I'd deal with in person.

 

[whiteraven]

Maybe some here who don't mind remote therapy are more personally partial to their therapists than most. So when they say they prefer remote, they mean they prefer remote because that's what their therapist, whom they really like and feel attached to, offers. But given a choice with the same therapist, maybe they would choose in-person after all...?

I am unable to do in-person anymore because of my schedule. So I like that I have an online option.

 

[brokenpony]

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.

i think there is maybe something i do not like about her voice through a speaker, as well as the pixelation and change in scale? at the same time i feel more disoriented and disconnected by the video version of her, i feel less anxiety of a different sort, less vulnerable and more cut off, and seem more “normal adult,” which is not actually better (for the purposes of therapy).

it’s odd because i don’t have the same issues with work meetings and hate that work meetings are mostly back in person. idk!

i sometimes even prefer the phone to video chat. i dunno why that is exactly, either, but therapy is a very personal individual thing and we all have our needs and constellations of symptoms.

part of my need is to work through the challenges of being in person, actually. of allowing myself to be seen by her in this way, all of me, head to toe. sometimes it’s just too overwhelming to be physically close and vulnerable at the same time, and i freeze and shut down and we need to work through the shutdown, and learning how to do that should hopefully help in parallel situations. (among other reasons.)

this thread is kind of heated, more heated than most i’ve read here so far! i personally don’t mean to say there is anything *inherently wrong* with online therapy by sharing that i feel like i need to be in person at least some of the time when working through my particular issues. i just have several issues to work on that benefit from working in physical proximity to the therapist, and outside of my house.

 

[GammaRay]

One out of a dozen people who have admin access. I.E. full on god mode. The same way select google minions have god mode over certain aspects of google products. But? ANYTHING/EVERYTHING people access over mobile devices. In? Limited countries. (US, AUS, PT), if ANYONE anywhere uses any app? Or their phone to log in over a webpage (safari, Firefox, whatever)? Instant in. IF ITS MOBILE? He not only has everything YOU have input, but everything everyone else has, ever. Every keystroke/ password. Every app . Every note/photo/etc.

Sorry I'm such a simpleton about these things but I still don't quite get it. One in 12 people has what kind of admin access? How do they obtain it? Is it through their job? Isn't our data on apps like Zoom supposed to be encrypted so no one can read it?

 

[somerandomguy]

But given a choice with the same therapist, maybe they would choose in-person after all...?

My therapist is halfway across the state. While he gave me the option for in-person therapy, we both knew I'd never take it since it would be close to a three hour drive there and another three hours back. I'm perfectly happy doing virtual therapy.

It seems to me that since you prefer in-person therapy, you feel no one else should have any other option. Why is that?

 

[GammaRay]

It seems to me that since you prefer in-person therapy, you feel no one else should have any other option. Why is that?

I'm all about options. It just seems to me that remote modes are easier and more attractive monetarily for therapists, so if patients don't "vote with their feet," they have no incentive to offer in-person visits. This is disconcerting to me. If I were a therapist, I'd work at least one day a week in person to accommodate patients who are uncomfortable with the remote medium. That would be offering options.

 

[Movingforward10]

I'm all about options. It just seems to me that remote modes are easier and more attractive monetarily for therapists, so if patients don't "vote with their feet," they have no incentive to offer in-person visits. This is disconcerting to me. If I were a therapist, I'd work at least one day a week in person to accommodate patients who are uncomfortable with the remote medium. That would be offering options.

There are therapists who do that.

I'm not sure what the challenge is. Not every therapist is going to work in the same way.

You're on a forum here and you can see the various different opinions. You're not speaking for everyone. Clients have different needs. Therapists operate in different ways. I'm struggling to see what this is all about.

 

[Friday]

Sorry I'm such a simpleton about these things but I still don't quite get it. One in 12 people has what kind of admin access? How do they obtain it? Is it through their job? Isn't our data on apps like Zoom supposed to be encrypted so no one can read it?

It doesn't really matter.

Hundreds of thousands of people have access to things they "shouldn't". My ex has access semi-legally, is all.

So anything I care to keep private I do in person. And with cash. Like millions of others, for myriad reasons.

 

[GammaRay]

I'm struggling to see what this is all about.

Really? It was already hard to find a therapist that's right for me before remote therapy became the trend. Now it's way harder if I want F2F, and the ease of virtual sessions combined with reduced financial overhead and a broader client base are leaving therapists with no incentive to return to F2F? And the one therapist I liked and almost managed to arrange an out-of-network contract with just told me her practice is 100% virtual now?

You're really struggling to see what this is about?

 

[GammaRay]

According to Psychology Today, 50% of therapists in my area are online only. 50% offer both online and in-person sessions. This halves my options for therapy. Someone seeking online therapy has double the options I have. It sucks.

 

[Movingforward10]

According to Psychology Today, 50% of therapists in my area are online only. 50% offer both online and in-person sessions. This halves my options for therapy. Someone seeking online therapy has double the options I have. It sucks.

I mean, it really doesn’t. That’s your preference.

My preference is having a gay female therapist. That means my pool of therapists is very small. I recognise that fact. Acknowledge it’s my preference. Find one. Done. Not a problem.