In a fast-paced world, more and more people suffer from various forms of emotional disorders. Depression, anxiety, and alcohol abuse are signs that some problems should be addressed with a specialist. Sometimes it is hard to find the time to take care of yourself, but your health, including your mental health, is the most precious thing.
Nowadays, you don’t have to commute to get to a therapist’s office, but you can have it right in your home.
What Is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy?
CBT states that psychological problems are often based on faulty ways of thinking and learned patterns of harmful behaviors. However, people who have psychological disorders can learn how to cope with them. This way, their symptoms are relieved, and they become more effective in their lives.
Many research studies prove that cognitive-behavioral therapy is effective for various mental problems, including anxiety, depression, eating disorders, alcohol and drug addiction, and even severe mental illness.
When you feel that disorders start ruling your life and need help with coping with them, you should seriously consider starting cognitive-behavioral therapy.
Benefits of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
One of the biggest benefits of online counseling is flexibility. You can do it from any place. If you are a parent, you definitely know the struggle with finding childcare. In the case of online therapy, you do not need to be preoccupied with it.
You can save a lot of time because you don’t have to drive anywhere, just open your computer. Because people do it at home, for most of them, the atmosphere is relaxed.
During online therapy, a person can show the therapist their living environment which can help them better understand the client’s problems.
Online vs. In-Person – Online Counseling Advantages + In-Person Counseling Advantages
Thanks to online counseling, you can save money and time. You don’t have to spend your salary to get to the professional’s office, and online therapies are a bit cheaper. Online meetings are also very convenient. Thanks to the option of texting, you don’t need to wait weeks for the next session. It is especially important for people who require frequent care.
You can express yourself in multiple ways. If talking is not what you need at the moment, you can use voice recording or texting to communicate with your therapist.
Online therapy can also be revolutionary for people who suffer from social anxiety. All problems connected with commuting and facing the therapist are gone, so you can focus on healing.
While online counseling has a lot of advantages, it is necessary to mention some of the cons.
This form of treatment may not be enough for people who suffer from severe mental illnesses. They need in-person health care from facilities to help them with mental disorders that can be dangerous for them and others. Online therapy can be an addition to in-person treatment but cannot replace it.
Some therapies, such as drama therapy, expressive arts therapy, music therapy, and EMDR, are almost impossible to execute in online counseling.
How Does Cognitive-Behavioral Counseling Work?
CBT teaches how to address the symptoms of disorders. The most common techniques are functional analysis and skills building.
During functional analysis, the professional works with a client to understand the hard feelings, unwanted thoughts, and behavioral patterns that cause problems.
After that, the client has to learn how to lower the symptoms and increase happiness with the help of the therapist. Knowing what problems, the client is facing, the CBT therapist can present them with the options that can be the most efficient for them.
How to Choose the Best Online Cognitive-Behavioral Counselor
Choosing the best online cognitive-behavioral counselor can be hard, considering how many options you have to choose from.
You need to verify if the therapist has experience in CBT therapy. It is also worth checking if they have the right accreditations to be sure that they are dedicated to this particular healing method.
Check different platforms and verify the reviews that your potential therapist has.
Be sure that you choose a therapist that suits your personal needs. You can verify if they offer communication features you prefer, such as phone calls, text messaging, and video conferencing. Some therapists offer all these options, while others focus just on one or two forms of communication.
Conclusion
Systematic reviews and analysis show that online CBT can be the same or even more effective in reducing depression symptoms. It can also significantly reduce anxiety symptoms. Moreover, this form of therapy is much more cost-effective, as there are no additional costs like with in-face therapy, such as childcare, petrol, parking, etc.
Electronically delivered CBT is also considered effective in treating panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and phobias. As the problem can be addressed quickly, without waiting in lines for weeks or even months, the problems are easier to control.
