It’s 2025 and it’s safe to say that the option to meet with a therapist virtually is here to stay. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the main way to access therapy was through face to face sessions at an office. Lockdowns and quarantining upended that pretty quickly and there’s been no looking back since. For many folx, the opportunity to use virtual online therapy has opened up the ability to participate in therapy that hadn’t existed in the pre-COVID days. This is especially true for people who might not have reliable transportation, who struggle with agoraphobia, who have severe social anxiety, who may be immuno-compromised, and so on. It’s also opened up the ability to access therapists with specialties that may not be available in someone’s local area.
If you’ve been toying with the idea of getting into therapy, or trying out virtual online therapy, there are a lot of benefits. I don’t know about you, but being able to go to a session in my pj’s without leaving the house is pretty appealing! Or not having to take even more time out of my workday to travel to an appointment and back when I don’t have PTO or extra time to spare because I can do the session from my cell phone from my car. Virtual online therapy is great on snowy days, too. You don’t have to miss your session just because Central PA winter is here. As a therapist, I’ve been able to connect with clients all over the state of Pennsylvania who otherwise may not have gone to therapy at all. Virtual online therapy has allowed more people to get treatment that may not have gotten it before or would have sat on lengthy waitlists. When more people are able to access care when they are ready and do it in a timely and convenient way, everyone wins.
“But wait, Stacy,” you might be thinking, “Don’t I have to worry that my session might not be private since we’re meeting online?” It’s true that in the early days of the pandemic when healthcare providers had to very quickly find a whole new way of delivering care, there were stories of “Zoom bombing” occuring in people’s classes, sessions, and meetings. Now, virtual online therapy platforms have many more security protocols in place. For example, most electronic health records have some form of HIPAA compliant, secure virtual options within their systems. At Set Sail, we use an EHR called Simple Practice, which is our electronic health record that has its own integrated virtual online therapy system. It is encrypted so that your sessions stay private. Your session link is personal to you and changes with each appointment.
However, there are a few risks related to virtual online therapy. We just talked about privacy concerns, and while there are alot of safeguards in place with virutal platforms now, any time that you are doing something online, you always run the risk of accidental or intentional exposure of your information. Other risks of using virtual online therapy include disruption of session if the internet goes down or the technology isn’t running as expected.
You’ve seen the potential benefits and risks. Is virtual online therapy right for you? If the answer is yes, there are a few things all providers want you to remember.
- Your session holds the same importance, whether it’s in person or through a screen. We won’t do sessions while we’re roaming the store looking for our next cardigan or grabbing a coffee at the drive-thru, and we don’t want you to, either. Make sure you’re able to give the session your full attention and that you’re in a private space.
- I mentioned going to the session in pj’s above. We all have different definitions of pj’s, but we definitely want to see you clothed.
- It’s great that we can work together while you’re in your own personal space where you’re comfy. But let’s not get so comfy that you take us to the bathroom with you while we’re on session.
- Same goes for having adult drinks, an edible, or microdosing (or whatever your thing is– no judgement here!).
- Depending on your provider’s licensing, your insurance, and regulations, you may need to be in the state you reside in at the time of services. Set Sail can only provide services to folx located in the state of Pennsylvania. This includes travelling– if you are heading to Baltimore, Maryland for a work conference, we can’t hold session with you during that time, but we’re happy to meet with you once you arrive home! (And if you have a unique situation or you’re not sure, just check!)
If virtual online therapy still sounds good to you and you’re ready to make a change in your life, reach out- we’re here and excited to see you! You can fill out the contact form on our website, or reach out to our Practice Manager, Sam, directly– she can be reached by email at samantha@setsailcounseling.com or by phone at (223) 237-7108.