Therapy via Skype

Since (it appears as if) I will be having my first Therapy Session via Skype on Thursday, I was wondering how that has gone for people who have had Therapy via Skype before. How different is it from in-person Therapy.

I've only had it once or twice, and I am not a huge fan. There is so much missed. I don't make eye contact in therapy, so my T really needs to see all of my body language to be able to help regulate my emotions. Also, it just isn't the same. I am lucky and have had in-person sessions for awhile now.

I'm not as sure how Skype works, as I've used Zoom for my virtual therapy. So I'm not sure if this is an option. But one thing I found to be really helpful is to hide the image of myself on the screen. I find it too distracting. So if that's an option, I recommend doing that (after you've made sure you're transmitting OK).

My experience was doing virtual therapy with a therapist who I'd previously seen in person. So it was (very) difficult to adjust at first. If this is the first time you're seeing this therapist, I imagine those challenges wouldn't be there.

One of the big differences for me was not having a dedicated space for the therapy. Meeting from my home felt different (he was usually in his regular office, but sometimes at his house, which felt a bit weird to me at first). Not sure if you live with other people or alone, but if you live with others (as I do), I suggest things like putting a fan outside the door to help block the noise. And asking them not to disturb you during that time.

Random thing--exit or mute any apps or programs that could send you random notifications during the session (unless it's necessary to have them open). I've found that to be distracting before. Like I'm in the middle of saying something (or the T is), then a calendar reminder pops up or a friend messages me, and it's like, "Oh, what's that?" and I lose my train of thought.

Hope it goes well!

I had done phone sessions for almost 3 years back in 2012-15 when ex-T lived out of state during that time, so I felt like that was kinda preparation for doing zoom sessions. I think we might have tried skype once at the very beginning of the pandemic but we had computer problems. then we tried another platform which didn't work so well either and then ended up staying on zoom until she went back to in-person. One of the big differences for me, like LT said was having the dedicated space for therapy. Doing zoom sessions it seems like EVERY week, H found some dumb excuse or other to open the door to the room I was in to ask me a question. She and I both got pretty annoyed with him after awhile. Another big difference was the energy between her and I - it's just NOT the same on the phone or on zoom as it is in person.

However I will say one plus to the phone sessions - was that because she couldn't see me (more importantly I think, because I couldn't SEE her seeing me) we were able to talk through some difficult stuff that I hadn't been able to talk about in person before she moved away. And when the other options didn't work we could switch to a phone session very comfortably, having already gotten very used to them.

One time on a zoom session I turned off my video and she was not amused.

I hope it works well for you!

I had one Skype session with my therapist at the beginning of the pandemic, after which we moved to Zoom. For some reason my Internet connection was less stable when we used Skype, but I didn't have the same issue with Zoom.

I missed the interpersonal connection, but I imagine that would be less of an issue if you were meeting this therapist for the first time. I'm extremely grateful to be working with my therapist in person again.

I never did skype but I did zoom from March 2020 until May 2021 and it ****ed me up so badly I'm still trying to pick up the pieces. I actually moved away from my therapist though so mine was a different situation. Hopefully it will work out better for you.

I have used Zoom since day one with my current therapist. She works approximately an hour and a half away from me so it's not really practical to see her in person and with the pandemic I get the feeling she isn't seeing people in person much anyway. Although I told her when it is safe to (pandemic wise) I would like to have at least one face to face session with her.

I am pretty comfortable on Zoom. The biggest problem is that my parents are home during my therapy sessions and where I get the best reception in the house is in the living room, so I can't like, close the door or something and have it be private so sometimes they wander in and out of the room while I am having my therapy appointment which is not conducive to talking a lot about my childhood experiences of neglect.

My T sometimes gets up in the middle of our Zoom session to let her dogs out and she carries the computer with her (or tablet or whatever she uses) but it is still distracting. We wouldn't have those distractions if we were meeting in an office. The eye contact became more important to me to maintain so she could see how I was doing. Normally I don't have a lot of eye contact in therapy but I know it is important for her to know how I am.

I have definitely gotten used to it. There are pros and cons just like everything but it works so far with my current T. Wishing you the best experience with your session. Hugs if wanted, Kit

Well I just called the office and they told me it will be over the phone again, I hope they are correct on that.

I now will be having Therapy sessions face-to-face which is what I prefer.

That's great!

I had to do telehealth with my therapist for a year during covid and I hated it. Furthermore, I believe it did damage to the therapy. But, the other choice was no therapy.

I’ve been meaning to reply to this for a while. I did Skype therapy for about 11 months during the pandemic. I hated not being in the same room as T at first, and kept asking when we’ll resume in person. Still, I think we had some of our best, most intimate and vulnerable sessions on Skype, so it wasn’t all bad. I think my anxiety came form not knowing if/when we’d go back to in person.

I’ve now been seeing T face to face for a year and a half and I wouldn’t go back to Skype sessions if the option of in person is there. I managed to catch Covid last week and we had to have a Skype session , which I actually found nostalgic and kind of nice.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that for me, video sessions are not the same as in person sessions. I felt like I needed to be in the same room as T for “deep” work to happen, but Skype sessions took me by surprise and managed to be better than I thought they’d be initially.

I know how you feel, I got COVID a few months ago but I didn't re-start Therapy until afterwards.