Therapy online: Good as face to face?

Actually in some cases, it's better. The anonymity online help provides is a door opened wider than seeing someone face to face depending on what is behind the therapy needed. People do not have to wonder if they are being judged looking into someone's eyes, feel intimidated or feel as if they have to quickly respond to a question without having time to really think about it.

I am not a therapist. I am a Chaplain, focused on PTSD, as well as the spiritual issues trauma causes. When people come to me, it's online, private and I help them from across the country as well as internationally. In most cases, I don't even know their real name, which is fine with me. The only problem I have with this is when I feel deeply concerned for someone on the ledge. There have been times when I had to try to find out where the person lived so that I could contact law enforcement to do a welfare check on the person. This is rough when I have very little to go on. I try to get as much information as possible but I can't push them. I may have a phone number and a real name, but sometimes it's just an email address.

The other problem with this is when others ask me how I know someone is telling the truth or not. That one is easy because they have nothing to gain by lying to me. I cannot help them with a claim, get them medication, have no money to give them and 99% of the time, they don't even want their story told. There is nothing in it for them to not be truthful. Often it's a matter of gaining trust from them, which is usually a very slow process. The more they trust me, the more they open up. It's also one of the reasons you never see a story from me online talking about any of the people I help unless it is in totally vague terms. A slow posting day is a busy day on the emails. It just works out that way all the time.

The most important thing aside from trust is to know who you are asking for help. If it's a site linked to veterans groups you can go through, like Give An Hour, usually you know you can trust them to give you the best help possible. If you turn to someone just because they have a website or blog, you need to first know as much as you can about them. There have been too many times when someone gives out totally wrong information or gives you the wrong advice even though they may mean you know harm. They just don't know enough and can cause you more pain than you already had.

This is not to slam all bloggers because most of them know what they are talking about when they get into this line of work. Some carry insurance and are licensed. This is done because they are trained to do what they do and take it all very seriously. Others give out great advice because they have been there and can tell you what worked for them. If you run into any advice coming close to suggesting they know the only "cure" for you, run as fast as you can. With PTSD there is no "one size fits all" at all. The only thing that really can be fit into the category of this would be when someone tells you that taking care of your mind, body and spirit works best, but there is no one way of getting there. There are all different faiths and levels of faith/spirituality. Some people say they believe there is a God but have no faith in religious groups. Each one has to be treated where they are as they are. There are also some hacks out there with deep emotional problems of their own and on some kind of power trip. Just keep your eyes open and see if their agenda is to help you or themselves.

PTSD has gotten so out of control that this is going to take all the help the Internet can offer, so the more help available, the better as long as that help is really supportive to you.

Therapy online: Good as face to face?
Story Highlights
Study: Online therapy has same benefit as could be expected from traditional therapy

There are legal issues with offering therapy online to people in other states

How health insurance companies deal with online therapy will affect its use



By Elizabeth Landau
CNN

(CNN) -- Your therapist's name is ELIZA, and she interacts with you through text on a computer screen. However embarrassing or difficult your problem may be, ELIZA will not hesitate to ask you a question about it, or respond graciously, "That is very interesting. Why do you say that?"


Computer-based therapy has come a long way since ELIZA, a 1960s computer program designed to emulate (and parody) a therapist. Today, with the Internet, people can use the instant message format to communicate with real therapists.

A new study in The Lancet suggests that real-time chat therapy with a psychotherapist is successful in helping people with depression.

Participants were randomly assigned to either receive online cognitive behavioral therapy in addition to usual physician care -- which may include antidepressant medication -- or to continue their usual care and be placed on a waiting list. The intervention consisted of up to 10 55-minute sessions, five of which were expected to be completed by the four-month follow-up.

Of the 113 people who did online therapy, 38 percent recovered from depression after four months, compared with 24 percent of people in the control group. The benefits were maintained at eight months, with 42 percent of the online therapy group and 26 percent of the control group having recovered.
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Therapy online