TTell me more about Teletherapy
What is Teletherapy
While COVID-19 has brought life to a standstill, everyone is expected to practice social distancing for safety reasons. However, the situation is becoming immensely stressful, resulting in anxiety and panic attacks in children and adults. Luckily, the role of teletherapy cannot be ignored in such circumstances. In fact, it can be a rewarding experience for anyone seeking a therapist for a health scare. They can communicate freely on the Internet with a therapist or a healer or a medicine professional, who can help them overcome challenging situations that they cannot face on their own.
Define Teletherapy
Well, teletherapy is the online delivery of speech through high-resolution, live video conferencing. Such sessions are highly interactive and both sides interact through live video conferencing. This means they can virtually communicate with each other in real time with the help of headsets and webcams.
Typically, teletherapy is beneficial for different types of people, who may be undergoing certain circumstances or experiences. Teletherapy may be a part of occupational therapy, speech therapy, and mental health therapy.
The therapy works with a computer, where both sides can interact one-on-one in a virtual meeting! However, it can be used in group therapy sessions as well.
Need for Teletherapy
From telespeech to teletherapy, telepractice, telehealth, and telerehabilitation, it’s one and the same thing.
Technology is constantly changing. With that, our communication skills are evolving at a lightning speed. Therapy services are also evolving with technology. Teletherapy is one example of behavioral training designed for kids with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The therapist and client can communicate with each other in real-time via webcams and headsets.
Research supports the effectiveness of teletherapy as similar to face-to-face therapy. The benefits of teletherapy can be clearly observed in a study done by Wagner, Horn, and Maercker in 2013. The study was performed to find the best mode for supporting those suffering from depression. At the completion of the therapy sessions, it was found that the teletherapy group reported slightly higher percentage of fewer depressive thoughts compared with the other group. The benefits continued even into three months of teletherapy.
The benefits of teletherapy extend to different situations and psychological conditions. In another study done by Acierno & et al. in 2014, it was concluded that the study subjects who were struggling with PTSD and treated through teletherapy showed similar improvement to the other group who received face-to-face treatment.
Although the old school of thought contends that teletherapy may not be as effective as face-to-face sessions, research shows promising results for the former. In fact, teletherapy benefits are immense, especially for people who have problems socializing and struggle with social interactions. Teletherapy can assist such persons to interact freely with the therapist and learn how to be social.
Benefits of Teletherapy
Teletherapy is an effective therapy with notable benefits for patients and therapists alike.
1. Accessible to More People
Since it is a virtual real-time experience, it is accessible to a wider number of people. People who are afflicted with disabilities, have been injured in an accident, or struggle with time for face-to-face therapy sessions can benefit immensely from teletherapy.
Teletherapy removes all types of barriers, including physical and emotional, in seeking out therapy.
2. Flexible
It’s easy to plan therapy sessions that fit your schedule. When a therapist is readily available in real time to cater to the patient’s schedule, it offers encouragement to more people to opt for teletherapy support when they need it the most.
3. No long waiting hours
One of the leading teletherapy benefits is the increased flexibility associated with it. This means patients do not have to wait endlessly to talk to a therapist when they need them urgently. With teletherapy, the time or wait barrier can be removed. Patients are happy to see therapists in a virtual environment without having to battle traffic or spend time in the waiting room.
It’s a huge advantage for working people who often struggle for time for visits to their therapist. Teletherapy comes to their rescue.
4. Safer, Stress-Free Environment
Patients can feel more comfortable with a therapist in a virtual environment. The process of personally visiting a therapist can be a stressful one. But teletherapy alleviates the stress, allowing patients to adjust to the process without having to step out of their comfort zone.
5. Efficiency
As patients fight with stress and anxiety, teletherapy comes to their rescue. In pandemic situations or times of a natural disaster, nothing works better than teletherapy when social distancing is the norm. the present corona crisis has endangered lives and people must maintain social distances to prevent the deadly viral infection. In such circumstances, teletherapy offers hopes to patients and therapists. While people can consult with their therapist online, therapists can carry on their health care services and business without the need for a lockdown.
Teletherapy benefits one and all and ensures streamlined communication.
Comments
Post a Comment