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Text Based Therapy

Text-based therapy is not ready for prime time

What if you could text a therapist anytime, anonymously -- for $90 a month? Ref. Source 2x.

Therapy Based Text

It is an interesting concept. There are psychological reasons to suspect that people would respond better. People tend to be more honest when they don't have to face somebody. It is easier to confess your secrets and honestly evaluate how you feel if you don't have to look into the eyes of the person you are expressing this to to watch them judge you or react to you. However there is also a certain report that is missing. By making that connection with somebody and being able to trust them, it can help with many mental issues. I think we will need more time to evaluate its effectiveness and study it in a more clinical setting before we can say how much good text based therapy will do.

Text Based Therapy Health & Special Psychology

I have personally undergone therapy, both traditional face-to-face therapy and text therapy, the latter of which I had for about eight months, on and off as I was able to keep up with the monthly fee. I appreciated the text therapy because I was able to jot down my feelings and thoughts as they arose, and I was able to review what I had written along with the feedback from my clinician. I was later diagnosed by my doctor as having generalized anxiety and major depression, both conditions that hampered my ability to go out and meet with people, so it was also helpful in that regard.

However, I would not recommend that it be used in a crisis situation or for very serious psychiatric conditions, because I think that there are a lot of cues that can be missed when using text alone. Some of the platforms began incorporating audio and real-time video chats, but I did not take advantage of these features, mainly because my primary reason for using the text therapy was paralyzing anxiety about speaking to someone in person.

As with face-to-face therapy, I believe that it is buyer beware. Some clinicians are more ethical than others, and just have a style that is more effective. It definitely took some shopping around for me to find one that I really meshed with. I will be returning to it if/when I need therapy again, because I was fortunate enough to find a clinician who has helped me make great strides. I think that he and I would work well together whether it was via text or face-to-face.