Teletherapy: New Technologies At The Service Of Psychology

Today, new technologies are – or should be – at our service in many areas. On the one hand, they make it easier for us to achieve our goals and are an advantage given the little time we usually have in our day to day. Thus, we can make the purchase from anywhere we are and receive it at home without much effort.

But not only that, they have also entered the workplace with force. So much so, that it has generated a debate about it … To what extent is it legal for them to send us e-mails or whatsapps outside of working hours? That is another important technology related question that we will leave for future articles because it is not the goal of this one. On the other hand, we will delve into  how to apply all these advances to the field of our psychological well-being. .. Keep reading and find out!

What is teletherapy?

Before knowing what psychological therapy is, it is necessary to know what psychology consists of. The same thing happens with teletherapy: we must know what telepsychology is. So, let’s get to it. Telepsychology is the name that encompasses all that activity in the field of distance psychology that  relies on new technologies (telephone, internet, e-mail, social networks, blogs, forums, mobile apps, etc.) to treat to prevent, promote and educate.

Teletherapy is therefore a part of telepsychology. It consists of carrying out a remote treatment by health and clinical psychologists. What’s happening here? That there is a virtual contact that “replaces” the one that is given in person in traditional therapy.

What are the types of teletherapy?

Teletherapy can be given in different formats and with different objectives. In any case, the ideal is that distance intervention is supported by technology to prevent the lack of direct contact between patient / client and psychologist from being reduced to a minimum, so that it resembles as much as possible a therapy / intervention face-to-face.

In addition, remote or online teletherapy can be given in real time (via videoconference, call or chat) or delayed (via email or “instant” messaging). In other words, it is the one we imagine when we think of this type of intervention.

Web therapy would be another type of therapy. It has psychoeducational or clinical purposes and can be carried out through automated programs or it can be assisted by a therapist who offers personal support to the user.

Finally, we find virtual therapy. It is a type of teletherapy that is having a lot of popularity in the last year. It can be given through a therapist or a virtual environment. In short, it uses the recent advances in the field of virtual reality to apply it to psychological therapy.

Is teletherapy better or worse than traditional therapy?

Once teletherapy is defined, we come to the question. Does it have any benefits or detriments over face-to-face therapy? This debate has existed since the inception of this type of treatment and continues today among mental health professionals. In the first place, it is undeniable that it is a very useful tool for people who for a long time could not do therapy in any other way.

Most of the studies that enrich the debate have been developed to see its effectiveness in treating depression and anxiety. Encouraging results have been found in this field. The same goes for preventing risky behaviors, such as suicide. Here it has been seen that teletherapy has significantly increased the search for help (family, friendly or professional) by these patients.

Regarding the child population, the results indicate that distance therapy produces results that are very similar in terms of efficacy to those produced by face-to-face therapy. Despite this research, it is important to continue conducting studies in this regard, to see if the results continue to be good.

Of course, it seems that we are facing a field of possibilities for a world populated by increasingly busy people. Even so, one last aspect must be considered, as when we decided to receive psychological therapy through the traditional route: the important thing is that we go to qualified professionals and quality services!