[Vampire221B]

Have any of you tried or are thinking of trying online therapy? What kind? What are your thoughts?

[Lemoncake]

I see my therapist R in person when I'm back in London, but we do skype sessions when I'm away. It works for us and I save on train fares!

OK I guess. The emails correspondence I sometimes have written T has been very helpful. Not sure if doing all therapy online for my issues would be useful. Perhaps for just help with a single issue it may work better.

[BrazenApogee]

I don't like the idea, but after reading the story of Skyping with a long term T because of distance I could see doing that. I would just think the relationship would have to develop in person first.

[MoxieDoxie]

My ex-T in a different state did sessions with me by Skype and it helped with my transition when I moved but because he was licensed in the new state I moved to he could not continue with me. I feel online therapy can work if you started with that T and have a connection prior to doing online but if you try to just start with a T online I feel you miss that in-person connection.

Online therapy for lets say situational depression or hard life events can help but for those with a serious mental illness I think it can be hurtful or even dangerous as that T is not near by for a real crisis.

[toomanycats]

I used online therapy via PrestoExperts when my exT told me he was moving and also had cancer. I needed to be able to access instantaneous help when I needed it, and this was exceedingly helpful for me. Especially because I could do a short session in the middle of my work day if I was falling apart and unable to function -- which happened a lot.

I highly recommend the service (if you PM me, I can tell you the counselors I used who I found to be most helpful) and I will still use it if I need to and can't get ahold of my new therapist.

[maybeblue]

I tried it because I'm good at expressing myself in writing (better than face to face) and I liked the idea of the therapist contacting me every day. So first I tried Betterhelp. I liked their interface, but didn't like the therapist. I do think that their advertising is a bit deceptive. They advertise that they have "over 2000 therapists," but they won't assign you a therapist from a different state (if you are from the US). Apparently it's a licensing law. But that really limits your choices if you are from a small state...as I am.

I really thought that the therapist didn't understand and minimized my problem. So I switched to Talkspace. That therapist did seem empathetic. However, it was like texting with a 13-year-old girl. She spelled everything wrong, which drove me nuts. I guess I figured that anyone with a master's degree should know the right "your" to use. And yes I realize that's a little shallow, but it's one of my pet peeves and I couldn't get past it.

I'm still not sure that it wouldn't work in some situations, but I was getting frustrated so I gave up and found a "real" therapist.