For many people that are battling mental health challenges, therapy is a great tool to help them work out through the emotional stress or the crippling anxiety or the depression and get their life back together.
Now in this day and age, people are beginning to take care of their mental health more and more and trying to manage their emotional stress and feelings. With the outburst of the pandemic, although this has become very hard since people have to maintain social distancing, psychotherapists have adjusted to the ways of teletherapy sessions or virtual therapy sessions. With this adaptation, many online therapy channels and applications have seen an immense boost in users as people are finding it increasingly difficult to cope up with their mental health issues and dealing with the impact of COVID- 19 simultaneously so a large number of people are adapting the online mode of therapy and trying to find an online psychiatrist help but there is always a thought in mind as to how a person can achieve the full benefit of online therapy and what are the things that he/she must or must not do while having an online real-time session with their therapist.
Here we discuss those do’s and don’ts that are related to the online mode of therapy for patients.
Your therapist is adopting the same environment as you
For people that were a regular user of the traditional therapy methods which were in-person at a therapist office, they were used to a particular environment and an office location to go for their sessions. The environment may contain a cushion or a chair to sit on and talk with your therapist, a window to look out of, etc. Now because of the pandemic, everyone is forced to stay home whether it be the patient or the therapist, so it is important to remember that is not only the first time for you but also for your therapist and he/she also needs to adjust to the new ways just like you.
So, it can be a little odd for both parties, but with mutual understanding and dialogues between the two parties, everything can be managed well and smoothly.
Do not dive right in, do your research first
Since online therapy sessions are catching the limelight and are very useful for people that are finding it hard to cope up with their mental health challenges, many people that do not have any prior experience in therapy let alone online therapy indulge in it without any research. This is wrong, you should spend time completely and correctly researching about your therapist and find out all details like where he/she graduated from and their specialization. There must be no hesitation on your part to find out all the knowledge you need regarding a particular therapist because after all, you are going to share the most intimate talk session with them so researching about them in advance is a must and you can easily find a psychiatrist online with ReliveNow.
Also, it is important to not blame yourself over bad or quick judgments as it is commonly understood that not everyone is compatible with everyone and different people operate on different wavelengths. You might not be able to discuss some matters with one therapist that you are easily able to discuss with some other one or maybe one therapist is just not skilled enough to guide you through your troubles but the other one is making it seem pretty easy and is being a lot helpful. It is your job to keep searching for the right therapist who will guide you to change your life for the better.
Prioritize the sessions
As it is important to conduct your work tasks on a day-to-day basis and to hang out with friends twice or thrice a week, online sessions of therapy must also be at the same level of priority and must never be skipped. It is very easy to cancel an appointment of online therapy by simply shooting an email to your therapist but that will not bring about any positive mental health changes within you and signing up for it in the first place would feel like a waste of time.
Do your homework in advance
For all the people that have Switched to online therapy from the traditional model of therapy and even the ones that have started with online therapy, it is paramount to be engaged with your therapist and discuss every little detail that has been bothering you and come up prepared with your questions and do a little homework for the sessions as well. Sometimes it may seem a bit hard to communicate without being present physically in the same room and being connected virtually but if you have your preparation up to date for the sessions, you and the therapist will find it very convenient to complete the session successfully.
Search for any secluded area without disturbance
One thing that you must do and which is the most important is to find a secluded place from where you take your online sessions as there should be no disturbance between you and your therapist when the session is being conducted. Therapy is considered to be a free place, where you can express your feelings free of concerns of the fear of judgment, so to express your feeling isolating yourself where no one else can hear the conversation between you and your therapist is vital for the continuation of the sessions. Remove all the distractions like work tasks and ask some of your colleagues to do it for you or ask your partner to take care of your kids while you are busy in your online sessions or maybe get away from the house if you fear there may be distractions and take your sessions from your car, just find a quiet place where no one can disturb you, give as much attention the sessions as you possibly.
