Telepsychology refers to the usage of psychology services delivered via video conferencing. For people who do not have ready access to psychological care, telepsychology or online therapy offers the perfect solution to fragmentation of care due to geographical areas, gaps in time between appointments, and lack of available providers.
I started doing online counselling about 3 years ago with a subset of my clients who live abroad who has counselling and mental health concerns. With the increasing mobility of between China and Hong Kong, there was a slow but steady influx of Mainland clients coming to HK seeking professional counselling and mental health consultation due to increase credibility in the service provided.
Online counselling was also increasingly utilize by students and young adults from HK studying abroad who prefer counselling using their native mother tongue, and clients who commute between cities that require consistent mental health support.
The increasing popularity of online counselling should be viewed as a support and not a substitute to traditional psychological service. This allow clinicians to continue to provide effective psychological interventions while providing flexibility and convenience to effectively meet the needs of the clients.
What does science say about Telepsychology?
Research has consistently shown that online psychological service can be very effective for many mental health issues, and equally effective as facet-face counselling.
- A 2018 study published in the Journal of Psychological Disorders found that online cognitive behavioral therapy is, “effective, acceptable and practical health care.” The study found the online cognitive behavioral therapy was equally as effective as face-to-face treatment for major depression, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. (Glynn, Randolph, Garrick, & Lui, 2010; Hailey, Roine, & Ohinmaa, 2008).
- Systematic reviews comparing clinical outcomes also reported equivalent outcomes between online and face-to- face counselling across a variety of disorders (e.g. posttraumatic stress disorder, bulimia nervosa, depression, substance abuse, developmental disabilities, and obsessive-compulsive disorder), populations (e.g. ethnic, youth, adult, geriatric) (3), and settings (e.g. home, emergency ) (Hynes et al., 2009; Reese, Slone, Soares, & Sprang, 2015; Tuerk, Yoder, Ruggiero, Gros, & Acierno, 2010).
- Treatment was found to be more cost-effective and positive improvements were sustained at the one-year follow-up.
- Research also indicated that the quality of the therapeutic relationship, as well as empathy, is consistent across different platforms. (Reese, 2016).
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