Best Sites for Online Couples Counseling

Benefits of Couples Therapy

Accessibility and Convenience

With numerous providers now inhabiting the digital mental health space, those seeking online therapy for couples have more options than ever before when it comes to selecting a service and only need a stable internet connection to get started. 

Couples can choose a therapy service provider based on criteria that matter to them, such as scheduling availability, types of relationship issues served, format of sessions, and program cost.  Many providers offer scheduling 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and are committed to accommodating all patient availabilities.  Since the online conference call format removes the need for both couples to physically meet at a designated location, even couples in long-distance relationships can seek the help of a licensed therapist provided that they are able to agree to a virtual meeting time.

Additionally, since many online providers document all sessions on a centralized medium such as an app or a website, couples in therapy can conveniently review at their leisure the progress they have made while working with their selected counselor, along with the recommendations provided to them.

Affordability of Couples Therapy

Conventional therapy sessions cost more than the numbers on the therapist’s invoice; unstated are the time and monetary costs of planning a time to meet and physically commuting as a couple to the therapist’s office.  Even in the event that a couple is lucky enough to have health insurance, they still may be required to engage in a form of cost sharing with their insurer, including but not limited to co-pay. 

On the provider end, online therapy service providers incur far fewer overhead costs than traditional office-based therapists and are thus able to price their services fairly and competitively.  Similar to their patients, many therapists who work for online provider networks even work from their own home offices.  It is for this reason that online sessions have become a far more attractive economical option for couples’ therapy; even without insurance, the plans and services offered by online providers often come at a fraction of expected cost and can be incorporated with ease into the couple’s existing budget.

Comfort

Talking about personal matters is already highly stressful for any couple in distress, and some individuals with existing mental health issues may not feel totally comfortable being emotionally open with a complete stranger in the unfamiliar, sterile setting of a doctor’s office.  Even though the climate toward mental health care has taken a positive turn in contemporary times, there is still a prevailing stigma regarding therapy that can cross into sensitive cultural lines.

Online therapy for couples provides a way for professional counselors and couples to connect from the comfort and privacy of the couples’ home.  The selection of available formats for therapy allow the couple to choose a method that works for their communication and personality style; for instance, a couple that requires more time to mull over heavier and more intense topics may choose a provider with an unlimited text messaging option over face to face video conferencing if they need the space needed to reflect before responding to their counselor.