Is it possible some T’s will always stay remote?

With all the CDC guidelines changing everyday I’m wondering if therapists who only do sessions from their house instead of seeing clients face to face will be a thing of the past and eventually they will all be back in office and can do virtual sessions if the client wants to. My Pdoc told me virtual sessions will still be a thing and that is why I am able to stay with him.

My old therapist said she’d never be back to in person and my new T said they had a choice and she has some colleagues she never sees anymore. I just happened to luck out with getting one who hates telehealth.

But yeah will it ever be mandated that therapists have to be back in their office?

Think my T likes it. He went on several vacations. As long as he had WiFi he could work. We had a couple sessions in his car for privacy. Saw a herd of Elk run pass the back of his car! He had a family emergency. The hospital in another State gave him a room with a view and WiFi and he held sessions.

He said he would check with me but he thought we could do both. I have had a couple very difficult sessions. Afterwards liked that I didn't have to be trying to concentrate on driving home. Was in the safety of my home while trying to feed slate. Was away from people so didn't and have to pretend to be ok.

I don't think they have to do anything unless they're part of a clinic. If they run their own practice, they can do whatever they'd like.

L started seeing me in-person once a month (I think?) as soon as we were able to. Now we're in-person except when she's out of town. Her co-worker has chosen to stay telehealth. She just likes it better.

I doubt in the u.s. anyone could mandate what a sole practitioner does in terms of whether they are in person or other. I can see where some of those people would like it - they don't have to pay rent, can be comfy at home, and still collect money just by appearing on a screen every so often.

I don't like zoom sessions personally, but I can imagine they would be a good option for a lot of people who have transportation or health issues, or people who don't have much time to spare, or people who live in rural areas where there aren't lots of therapists, etc... So if a therapist likes telehealth and can find enough clients who want to meet online, I don't think there's any reason they should have to go back to seeing patients in person.

Mandated, I don't know exactly what that would mean, who would mandate that or why. Maybe insurance companies could decide they won't pay for telehealth, but I find it hard to imagine they would.

Good God, I hope not!

My therapist plans to permanently offer both. For the clients who like virtual she will offer it. She expects that she will travel to her office one or two days a week and aty home for virtual appointments 1 or two days a week.

I'm hoping therapists will consider what is in the best interest of their clients. For some, getting out of their home is a healthy challenge. I like the idea of therapists reserving slots for both in-person and telehealth.

My T said he likes not having to pay rent and at this time plans to stay remote permanently unless it impacts his business. He said he may rent an office for 1-2 days a week if necessary for people that cannot do remote. I'm not all that happy about it as we do EMDR almost every session and it is much easier for me to do in person although I have adjusted to doing it remotely. I am torn because it will be extremely difficult for me to schedule my 2 sessions per week into my work week after we go back to the office in July but I also feel I worked harder and was more accountable with in person sessions. I hate to do so but I may try a different T who will work face to face when that begins just to see if it will work out better, especially if they have later hours.

Mine also plans to do this, though he tends to meet virtually from his office, so he'd likely still go in most days. He's still doing virtual only and said that some clients (including me) want to resume meeting in-person again when he allows it, but he suspects some will prefer to remain virtual.


I think virtual sessions could also be useful at times for clients who usually prefer to be in-person. For example, if there was bad weather, then my T could meet with clients virtually from his home (he does that some days) rather than having to cancel sessions. Or if I was feeling a bit ill one day, bad enough that I wouldn't want to go to the office (or would fear I'm contagious), but still well enough to meet, I could just have a virtual session. Same if he was a bit ill. Or if I was out of town and still wanted to meet (though he did a phone session for that in the past, pre-pandemic).

I don't think it will be mandated, that is a bit extreme.

But yes, in my neck of the woods quite a few Ts want to only see people online as it is much more convenient. A few will mix it up i.e. both online and in-person.