Friday 18 September 2015

Online Therapy and Online counseling: Effective and Essential

According to the Online Practice and Counseling Guidelines 2015, the need to expose future therapists and counselors to online therapy is essential. The practice of online therapy and online counseling is increasing. If you never practiced online therapy before or want to receive online therapy, check out eTherapi.com, that has all of the tools, information and can assist you through the entire process.

Studies show that online therapy and online counseling are not only effective and satisfying as face to face  (International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology 2012)
but  may be more effective that face to face therapy in cases of, e.g. LGBT issues ( Journal of Sex issues 2015),anxiety,  eating disorders, in treating young adults who seek mental help online, stigma issues, or difficulty with face-to-face expression and people who need a speedy recovery( Journal of Clinical Work 2013).
Several studies show that people from online therapy had better long term coping mechanisms and affective wellness after working with a therapist.
An example is a study with 98,609 US veterans suffering from PTSD. After the September 11 attack, several organizations and universities partnered to study the treatment of online therapy and officials recuperated more successfully with online therapy compared to face to face therapy.
Liz from US Veterans Affairs Health care  says that patients from the online clinical trial  “ they learn to manage challenges…The intervention also made good use of the therapists' time. They were able to look after more patients than they would in a similar number of office visits”.
Another case in which there was better long term effect after online treatment is in a 2013 study of people suffering from depression. Online therapy was effective in the short term, 2 month intervention but the face to face group that received therapy, significantly worsened once the intervention was ended.

From the Clinical Social Work Journal 2013 intern social workers and clients both reported that the cyber environment was more comfortable and made it possible to disclose more personal and intimate information.
" A lot of things came up [in cyber] and she was like ‘it’s just easier. Like I don’t feel like you can judge me. I can’t see your reaction.’’

According to  Eric A. Harris, Ed.D., J.D., legal counsel to the Massachusetts Psychological Association and consultant to APA Insurance Trust says “I think that within 10 years, 80 to 90 percent of all therapy will be done remotely,” Harris says. “There’s been a lot of research done and there’s not one piece of research that suggests that in-person treatment is superior to remote treatment.”( New England Psychologist, 2013)

Many current professionals do not know that their state and insurance accepts online therapy and online counseling. By reading this article, you are already at a greater advantage in either seeking care or providing care. For essential information please read “ What can you do to have your therapist or Counselor offer online therapy or online Counseling?”


What can you do to have your therapist or counselor offer online therapy or online counseling?

The choice shouldn’t be who provides online therapy in order to get the best therapist. The choice should be who is the best therapist for you and once you have or found that excellent therapist, then hopefully this therapist can offer you the boundless benefits of receiving online therapy. You can do something about getting your therapist to provide online therapy or online caunseling.  Being an informed consumer of online therapy is essential in order to know the right, as well as lawful choices in the areas of technology  and here is what you need to know:

Legal Technologies for Online Therapy

Your therapist can easily utilize an online therapy for videoconferencing and messaging that offers advanced technologies in compliance with regulations set forth by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and the HITECH act (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health ACT). In short, HIPAA regulates that the data transmitted between the client and therapist is private and secure and HITECH supports the use of technologies for the network of electronic health records. The next crucial step is for your therapist to sign a BAA (Business Associate Agreements) with the online therapy provider to safeguard personal health information (PHI) practices in accordance with HIPAA guidelines.Etherapi.com does all of these services.

Legal Billing Processes

A comprehensive online therapy provider etherapi.com can also provide information on insurance companies that cover online therapy for your therapist to be assured of accurate and authorized billing. However, you should urge your insurance company to fully support online therapy and review that the correct billable codes are being used in order to avoid inquiries. You should also know if there are any restrictions of service such as with the number of authorized sessions and the choice of network or preferred provider. If you find out that your insurance company has coverage restrictions for online therapy, then it is time for you to voice your opinion and write about your support for our therapist to provide online therapy.


A therapist or person seeking therapy or counseling may very likely be able to take advantage of online therapy or online Counseling and neither one of you may know it. Thankfully It is not difficult to make therapy more accessible with online therapy.

Wednesday 26 August 2015

Using eTherapi’s Online Therapy Software to Deal with Depression


Online therapy for people who suffer from depression can be particularly beneficial. The underlining symptoms that depressed individuals can experience are fatigue, restlessness, and indecisiveness. Depression can be successfully treated in sessions with a mental health professional. However, the very symptoms of the condition may hinder an individual from seeking treatment and in turn worsen the condition.
A depressed individual may find himself or herself in the following states:
  1. Feeling too tired or fatigued to get dressed, to leave the house, to drive, and to use transportation
  2. Not feeling comfortable with speaking intimately about personal issues
  3. Feeling concerned with the costs for depression treatment

Online therapy with eTherapi may be the ideal solution that addresses all the above issues and ease the conflicts associated.
  1. Accessibility: Anywhere and anytime an individual can have a session with a credentialed depression specialist. There is no need to be concerned with getting prepared or dressed to leave the house. Moreover, it not necessary to drive or access transportation to get to an appointment.
  2. Security: Sessions are held over private and secure online connections. Specialist are experienced and credentialed in the field of depression, with strict HIPPA compliance for privacy and confidentiality
  3. Less costs: Online therapy reduces costs associated with office visits, which include transportation to a session, loss of time from work due to lengthy travel time and loss of personal time.
  4. Personal boundaries: Individuals, feeling embarrassment, shame, shyness, and timidness, may feel awkward, uncomfortable and restricted when speaking with a specialist in the intimacy of a strange room, not to mention a room outside of their comfort zone. Individuals may feel more at ease to speak in their home and a familiar environment. Another advantage of online therapy for sensitive individuals is that indirect contact (not being in the same room) triggers less emotional distractions, hence more mindfulness. Pre-adolescent and adolescent individuals may prefer online therapy methodologies.


Online therapy with eTherapi (https://etherapi.com/)is the most customizable way to meet an individual’s complete needs in life: time, cost, location, age, emotions, physical health, and disabilities. Online platforms enable specialists, to effectively administer online tools to improve, enhance, and support therapy sessions, with the use of assessments, messaging and if necessary games. A myriad of social informative tools exist and are currently being developed to effectively diagnose and treat depression. Most of all, online therapy has not boundaries for patients to receive treatment and for specialist to treat them and this is a win-win for everyone.