Every policy has costs and benefits, and social distancing is no exception.
Some of the more immediate costs of social distancing have been psychological: boredom, frustration, anxiety, and depression. So, it should come as no surprise that therapy is in high demand right now, even if it’s not accessible in a physical setting.
To bridge this divide, many therapists have gone virtual. Skype and Zoom are the online offices of choice, and many regulations and insurance rules have had to change as well to meet the needs of therapists and clients alike. The federal government suspended a rule last month that prevented Medicare from covering telehealth for mental health, and many state Medicaid programs have agreed to drop rules requiring mental health practitioners to be licensed in the state where their patients live.
All of this means that therapy is more accessible now than it’s ever been, and people are taking advantage of this increased availability. Ginger, a company that provides chat-based mental health services, said its number of “active users” is 88% higher than normal. And Talkspace, which provides video and text services that connect users and therapists, said its platform has seen a 65% rise in demand, according to the Wall Street Journal. And for most users seeking therapy, their worries are the same: They’re worried about financial stress and relational isolation.
This ease of access hasn’t been without its pitfalls. Parents are having a hard time finding time to themselves and private spaces to chat, according to marriage and family therapist Shelley Hanson. Some couples have fled to their cars. Others have hidden in their bedroom closets. But even then, there were “kids who would love to listen in and know what’s going on,” Hanson explained.
There’s also the question of online privacy. Moving therapy online has put clients’ data at risk, even if those platforms meet the technical safety standards, said John Touros, director of the digital psychiatry division at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, according to Slate.
“You can have the best castle, the biggest moat, and biggest doors,” Torous said, “but if you leave the door open, it doesn’t matter.”
Still, the benefits of virtual therapy are undeniable. More people than ever before are carving out time for short sessions, oftentimes because they have nowhere else to be and nothing better to do. And although it is much more difficult for clients to connect with therapists over a screen and vice versa, the ability to talk to someone who truly wants to listen, understand, and help can make a world of difference.
