The ability to receive therapy from the comfort of one’s own home has been instrumental in helping to ensure that more people receive the counseling that they need.
In addition to offering a sense of privacy, home therapy is gaining in popularity because it enables people with scheduling challenges or travel difficulties to receive vital therapeutic intervention from a trained professional. The most common modes of home therapy include therapy sessions by webcam, SKYPE, telephone or e-mail. In some cases, home therapy can be combined with face to face counseling sessions to achieve results.
SKYPE and Webcam Therapy: Providing Key Verbal and Non-verbal Clues
Participation in therapy via SKYPE or webcam creates a therapeutic environment that most closely resembles a face to face therapy session. The therapist and patient are able to see and hear each other speak. The ability to see a patient provides valuable non-verbal clues that can assist with diagnostic strategies and treatment. For instance, a therapist can detect a patient’s flat affect and unkempt appearance through this mode of therapy and may opt to screen for depression.
Therapy by Phone: Offering the Comfort of a Compassionate Voice
One of the most common modes of home therapy is telephone therapy. This mode of therapy retains the element of verbal conversation while allowing the patient to participate in treatment from his or her location of choice.
With the exception of the missing visual exchanges between provider and patient, a phone therapy session is quite similar to a traditional therapy session in terms of length and content. Therapy by phone is a bit more personal than electronic therapy because voice inflections and tones can be detected.
Email Based Therapy: Providing Convenience and Ease of Disclosure
Home therapy by email offers a level of privacy that surpasses phone therapy and webcam therapy. However, in addition to being unable to see a patient, a therapist is not able to speak with a patient or detect verbal clues. In spite of these two diagnostic limitations, therapy by email offers a key advantage to patients: a written record of the therapy session. This can prove to be effective when patients want to easily review treatment suggestions offered by a therapist.
Home Therapy Offers the Privacy that Many People Desire
Embarrassment and worries about breached confidentiality are two of the key reasons that many people refrain from participating in face to face therapy sessions. Many people prefer to keep their behavioral disorders private. They dread the drive to a counseling center or hospital because they fear that friends or colleagues may find out that they are receiving treatment for a disorder.
Home therapy eliminates these potential circumstances because they will not be running into any familiar faces in the parking lot or hallways.
Therapy from Home Makes Receiving Treatment More Convenient
Notably, receiving therapy from home removes some of the major obstacles that prevent people from benefiting from treatment. For instance, home therapy is an excellent option for people with transportation difficulties, physical disabilities, atypical employment schedules and other challenges that can prevent a person from traveling to an outpatient facility or office to receive counseling.
Additionally, people with very little spare time appreciate the ability to participate in therapy by webcam or phone and avoid the extra expenditure of time that a commute would require.
Marcie has been working with couples and individuals for over eight years. Helping them start off right, and helping individuals in their time of need. If you want to try phone therapy, check Marcie out at Love Your Relationship today.