That was one of the main concerns. Defranco Betterhelp Reddit…that was actually essential to me as a psychologist was that I would have autonomy over what I talked about what what subjects I picked to provide and also you understand my own views when when essential or appropriate to share them and I was given that by a better help they generally stated you know we trust you as a medical expert and we’re gon na trust you to go out there and discuss what you know and among the things that I truly wanted to address is the truth that I’m not simply here to state that online therapy is the answer for everything you understand I think it can be incredibly practical for many individuals I’ve seen it myself dealing with individuals from a few months up to over a year and I seen how being able to message and likewise have video sessions with somebody is actually a it almost enhances the the restorative experience in such a way at the same time I have a private practice where I see individuals face-to-face and I thoroughly delight in that and there
are people that I see there that I would not consider seeing online either they would not be appropriate we would not be able to do the level and depth of work we’re doing or it simply would not feel comfortable and and that’s all right those 2 things can both be true and I think among the things that I wish to start to have people think about is there’s a place for both offline and online therapy it is really a matter of you understand choosing what’s right for you but also what’s most proper for you with the help of an expert when I speak about specific therapy designs or approaches as being appropriate for you what I indicate by that is that it would be the best approach for the particular problem that you’re dealing with and I believe that a person of the issues that a great deal of individuals have is that online counseling is attempting to replace offline therapy and I can inform you 100% that that’s not true I have actually had numerous discussions with the founder of better help where he has actually mentioned that his audience isn’t to take on brick and mortar practices or put psychologists or certified professionals out of business his mission is to offer mental health access to the people who aren’t going to come into the therapy office and I 100% support that objective and I believe it is essential and we have a problem with access to psychological health care in this country and
betterhelp debate
better hope is one solution as our other online companies I was pointing out previously that there are things that I personally think that online treatment is better for or offline treatment is better for and I’ve in fact I’ve actually spoken about this in other settings since it is something I feel pretty passionate about and I have to say that my viewpoint has been popular by companies like better help in regards to hopefully how they how they deal with individuals that provide for care so I just wanted to spend a number of minutes talking about my own is my own personal viewpoint about the things that are most appropriate for online versus offline treatment so in my view I see online therapy as a fantastic location for individuals who are dealing with difficult life transitions for situations where they’re experiencing more stress than normal for situations where you know they have an extremely specific problem with stress and anxiety or social anxiety and a treatment like cognitive behavior modification which is extremely structured can can benefit them which treatment because it’s not as interpersonal as others is perfect for online counseling since it includes a great deal of homework it includes worksheets it includes finding out specific skills and strategies so moderate milder conditions like moderate anxiety mild depression adjustment disorders even PTSD as long as like the individual has gotten care at first elsewhere these are all things that can be addressed through online therapy you know consider someone who has a agoraphobia and possibly they connect to a therapist from their home due to the fact that they can’t leave their house and simply just to clarify agoraphobia is a condition where individuals are actually terrified of being trapped and caught in a location where they may have a panic attack therefore essentially they start to restrict their activities and restrict their activities up until much of them can’t leave their house without actually feeling significant distress so if someone like that is at house and they can reach out through their computer system and connect to a counselor that’s a great initial step is that going to treat them never due to the fact that agoraphobia to be effectively dealt with requirements that person to be able to go outdoors and to resume normal activities and often that includes a therapist going to their house to help them with that procedure obviously online counselors are going to be able to do that but might they be the bridge that got that individual who’s afraid to leave their home from that initial supportive technique to therapy where they can really have a better life 100% and this is what the space that better help intends to fill with their services my indicate this to this particular video and bringing these things
up is that I I want to plainly communicate that anything that I share with you is going to be totally from where I stand as a professional psychologist and more notably what I think is as just a human being on this earth trying to do the very best that I can therefore I I won’t tell you that something is appropriate that I don’t believe is appropriate I will not show you that online therapy is the cure-all for everything due to the fact that I don’t think that therefore you can constantly expect to hear my honest opinion on what I think from my own experience and knowledge base as a licensed psychologist I hope you found this video fascinating and valuable if you did please like it listed below and feel free to sign up for our YouTube channel where we’re going to be producing more and more videos on a variety of various mental health subjects and please reach out if there’s something particular you would like us to cover or address in an upcoming video