Remote Therapy

History has shown that people are, more often than not, hesitant to accept change. Regardless of whether or not this change is beneficial, many embrace tradition in fear of having to learn something new. This close mindedness can be applied to psychology, particularly with psychological disorders and therapy. For years, doctors have been diagnosing patients with psychological disorders and recommending in-person therapy. Despite stigmas against psychotherapy, face-to-face treatment has seen continuous growth. Consequently, in-person therapy has become a popular mode of therapy. More recently, however, the field of remote therapy has grown rapidly. From its roots in telecommunication, remote therapy has grown to encompass therapy through online

Using articles such as that presented by Andrews, Davies, and Titov, it has become apparent that remote therapy is just as effective of a therapy method as in-person therapy is. In the discussion of their study, in which patients were randomly selected to partake in face-to-face or online therapy, Andrews, Davies, and Titov concluded that “[remote therapy] should be offered to people with depression, panic or social phobia as standard of care and that face-to-face [therapy] should be reserved, in a stepped care design, for people who have not benefited sufficiently from [remote therapy]” (Andrews et al, 2011, p.340). The conclusion of their research proves that remote therapy should not be dismissed; rather, it should be offered as an alternative for patients with specific psychological disorders. Furthermore, this allows us to infer that the advantages and disadvantages discussed earlier mainly concern the convenience and comfort level of the therapy provided; as a result, the pros and cons have little effect on the overall efficacy of

In-person therapy has the benefits of established ethics and personal treatment, but is bogged down by inconvenience and limited access. On the other hand, remote therapy has allowed for more convenient and discreet therapy; however, it is given negative connotations for its impersonal treatment and lack of established confidentiality. All this said, studies have shown that both methods of therapy are equally effective in treating psychological disorders and that the disadvantages and advantages are simply a means of weighing convenience and comfort. In conclusion, I learned that we must not allow tradition to stand in the way of accepting modern advancements, that goes for not only this discussed application of psychology, but also throughout any context in which change is